Unrequited Love
by XoxBlueRavenxoX
Summary: Rose escapes the clutches of emotional pain and agony of her old life to establish a new and more fulfilling one. Set after "Love fades, mine has." Will she find the courage to confront and perhaps reconnect with her past? R&R
1. Internal Agony

**Hello everyone, this is kind of my first fan fiction. I'm not really new to FF as I've read tonnes of them before, however, I have only recently found some motivation to actually write one of my own. This may be just a one-shot, depends on what you guys think, if you guys think it's good, I may continue. So read and review! Enjoy.**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>Shock and hurt flickered across her features as she slammed her guardian mask upon her face. Quickly, she twirled around, sprinting out the ornate doors of the Court's church. Her feet, pounding on the ground beneath, eventually brought her back to her room. As her worn fingers fumbled with the lock, she felt salty drops of moisture cascade down her face and splash onto her hands.<p>

But it didn't matter._ Nothing mattered now._

As her numb mind recalled those four words, those four syllables, she felt her heart break again. Or maybe it was the fragmented pieces of her heart splitting into a billion more pieces? Who knew? She certainly didn't, she couldn't tell, not when the man she loved, the man she would and had gone to the ends of the world for, do absolutely anything for, did not return her undying love.

A love they had both fought for, had been built through hours of arduous guardian training, shattered with the loss of his soul, the loss of all human goodness. However, this love had returned, or so she had believed, with the man's miracle restoration, only to be torn and shredded into bloody pieces again with four words, four syllables, sixteen letters, sixteen characters.

_ Love fades. Mine has. _

As those words tore through her, she decided that she would run away. No one really needed her anymore. Certainly not the love of her life, and Lissa…well, Lissa had plenty of others to take care of her. No, Lissa would be perfectly fine.

With those thoughts, she rummaged through her few belongings, tossing them all into her single suitcase. Yes, this was what she needed, a vacation. Time where she could think and reflect, find out who she really was, build and establish a new Rose, _a better Rose. _

As she closed the door to her now swept and empty room, hearing the _click_ that told her it secure and locked, she couldn't help but recall a line that she once read, well, maybe not read as she had possibly never picked up a single book in her life, she once heard: _"It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."_ But was it? Was it really worth this torturing, heart wrenching agony she was enduring at present? Maybe it was, maybe she should focus on all the good times they shared, move on, start again…

Driving out of Court, without another glance back at her past, she knew whichever choice she now chose, it was not going to be easy, it most likely would be one of the lowest lows, deepest valleys, steepest dips in her entire life. She knew as she drove, that it would most definitely be a cruel and torturous hell, as is the cold and unforgiving entity that is _unrequited love._

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><p><strong>So what did you think? Remember, with enough reviews, I will continue. :) xoxo<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	2. Taken For Granted

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all your reviews and ideas. I have in fact decided to continue this story (yay!) and would love to thank especially ****Katy Clay**** and ****Nicky Morays**** for their helpful ideas. I will put them both in action. And so here it is! Chapter 2. **

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>Today was the day. The day she would be joined in matrimonial harmony with the love of her life. As she straightened her flowing white satin dress, she gazed at the mirror in front of her to see a tall, slender figure, characteristic to most moroi, and her delicate features framed by a curtain of platinum blonde. Pale, green eyes as luminous as the moon outside stared back, radiating an air of nervousness as well as excitement. However, she noted underneath this glamorous exterior, there was loss and heartache. Sighing rather loudly, she turned to put the finishing touches on her immaculate bodily display.<p>

It had been a year, a long, hard cycle and not one day passed where her mind did not wander to the current whereabouts of her beloved best friend. For a year prior to the present, a woman she considered her sister had up and left her life without any notice. No note, no message or hint as to where she was going or what she was doing. She had vanished. Disappeared off the face of the earth. And every day since, she had questioned herself, even tortured herself questions.

"_What had I done? Why did she leave? Was it because of me?"_

At first, she had been numb, a non-responsive shell of her former being. She had locked herself away, cut herself off from those she loved. Hoping _she_ would return, would run back into her arms, never to leave her again. But no, none of that had happened and as the days had crawled by, she was forced to accept the hard and cold truth that Rose was gone. _She had taken her for granted._

Heaving another great sigh and forcing back the moisture that were her tears, threatening to spill out and ruin all the effort that they had undergone, she made sure everything was perfect and in order. Oh how she wished _she_ were here this very second, if only she was the one helping her prepare for this big day.

_ Well, there's no use in dwelling in the past, none of that can be changed anymore._

At that moment, a guardian dressed in the typical guardian attire of black and white, stepped through, handing the bride a single sip of paper. As she unfolded the piece of paper, she observed the script scrawled upon its pale, white surface. _A script she knew only too well._

_Good luck out there today. You look absolutely gorgeous, I'm so proud of you!_

_I'll be watching. xoxo_

Her heart fluttered at the thought of what this note meant, what it symbolised. She couldn't help, couldn't control herself, she rushed to the tents entrance. Scanning the sea of faces and formal wear for the oh-so-familiar mane of luscious dark hair, that curvy, dangerous body of the woman she so eagerly wished to see again, even just one glimpse would satisfy her needs.

Her alacrity was so astounding, her head so wrapped up around the need to see this dark haired beauty that she did not hear the commencing of the music.

Hurriedly, she spun around, preparing herself for the biggest, most important moment of her life. However, as she made that final turn of her pale body, she thought she saw the glint of a wink from a dark eye towards the back of the assembly. That was all she needed to pick up and gather her emotions, persisting in gliding down that aesthetic aisle, towards the man of her dreams. Towards her future.

_"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." –Charles Dickens_

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><p><strong>How was that? Enjoy it? Please tell me what you think as I will need some support if I am to keep writing. XD<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	3. Honeymoon Worries

**Hello my lovely readers! I hope you are all enjoying this story. The following chapter will be in Christians POV and I thought we might pay a little visit to Rose next, see what she's been up to this past year… well, on with the reading! **

**P.S. UM, I NEED A FEW IDEAS WITH WHAT ROSE WOULD BE DOING AND WHERE SHE IS, SO IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE PLEASE WRITE IT IN THE FORM OF A REVIEW OR PM ME. MUCH APPRECIATED. **

**Proceed… XD**

**~Angeliqa**

CPOV

Rays of golden sunlight pierced through the blinds of the luxurious room and struck the pale skin of the man within. Slowly, he propped himself up, sinking back into the exterior of the snow white pillows, careful not to awaken his personal angel sleeping softly by his bare chest. Inwardly, he sighed, his ice-blue eyes lost in the thoughts of recent events. This was the last night of their month-long honeymoon, their last night in paradise, before their reluctant return to the reality of the cruel, back-stabbing world of moroi politics.

So many thoughts ricocheted around the walls of his restless mind, but underneath, there was an ever present ocean of worry. Worry for the mental well-being of his new wife. For the consequences of wielding her element, spirit, was entirely unpredictable and it seemed her experiments with her rare power were taking its toll on the mind frame of the young woman of barely nineteen years.

He recalled, only mere hours following the happiest, most euphoric moment of his nineteen years, his luminous beauty had approached him, informing him of some note she had received prior to the wedding ceremony and that her best friend, Rose, had been there. _Oh Rose!_ He had not doubted for the briefest amount of time that she would not be there to celebrate her best friend's wedding, why bless us with her presence so discreetly? Why was she hiding? The latter confused the young gentleman; surely she would have wanted to talk to Lissa. It only made sense that whatever had been the catalyst of her decision to flee was a matter of paramount importance.

Don't get him wrong, he loved Rose with all his heart and soul, however only with brotherly affection. He highly esteemed her and respected the young woman for her personality and protectiveness of those she held close to her heart, despite their snarky interactions with each other from time to time…well, most of the time.

He quietly slipped out of the bed, making his way to large French doors that opened out to the balcony. Peering out the glassy material, he reflected upon the various reactions of Rose's family and friends. Adrian, predictably, disappeared, nursing his wide collection of alcohol. _That weak bastard, _he thought in bitter disapproval. Then there was Belikov. The pairs relationship was well covered, he had only recently been enlightened on the duo's relationship. Belikov took the shocking news the way he managed everything…by slamming on his guardian mask. That damn cover always annoyed the hell out of him, but this time round, he could not help not help but feel a little sympathetic for the unfortunate guardian, after all the strigoi matters, the latest tragedy really was not what he needed.

Of course, there were plenty of others severely affected by the mysterious disappearance. Her parents were obviously one group among many. He had not seen much of them, however, from what he gathered; it was quite a sharp blow for the pair and her intimidating father had used up a whole lot of his resources to seek out the daughter he had only just got to know. In truth, they were all quite a mess, despite the fact that a whole year had passed since the occurrence of the event.

Evidently, there was also his mesmerizing young wife. _There it is again. Worry and concern for Lissa._ She had taken the news quite badly, locking herself away, not eating or feeding. He had begged and groveled in the most obsequious of manners possible, and when he finally succeeded in persuading her to come out, she had punished herself endlessly, thoroughly believing it was her own fault that Rose had left.

_Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. ~Leo Buscaglia_

In that moment, as he thought of that one quote, he made a decision, a thought that had been weighing on his mind for quite some time. Lissa was his wife now and his role as her loving husband was to ensure she was happy and content, and with Rose way, the goal could not be fulfilled. Glancing back at the sleeping figure, he allowed his feet to carry him back to the comfort of the large king=sized bed, falling back into the blissful oblivion that was sleep. Tomorrow, they would make their reappearance at Court. Tomorrow, he would commence his own search for Rosemarie Hathaway.

**Enjoy? Or no? If there are any compliments or criticism, please do not hesitate to contact me about it, I won't take it badly. After all, **_**Failures are fingerposts on the road to success!**_** Ha, me and my quotes. Review! xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	4. Independance

**Big hello to all you readers! Here is chapter 4 in Rose's POV. I have finally found the chance to write something on my profile, so… **_**feel free to go check it out!**_

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>RPOV<p>

As the obnoxious _slam_ of the large double doors resounded through the spacious gym, the loud chattering stopped as immediately as a light bulb being disconnected from its source of electricity, or the disappearance of the flickering, orange flame of a candle as the gusty breath of air extinguished its short-lived life. Through those double doors strolled in a woman of athletic build, a woman beautiful and dangerous beyond the capabilities of earth itself. Her presence was a privilege and carried an air of authority; all those present in the room regarded her with respect and admiration for she was a woman of great importance, strong and independent. _No one messed with Rose Hathaway._

Although, she was in hiding, all knew who she was and not a single one of them would dare give her away for fear of facing the horrifying wrath of the infamous Hathaway. Furthermore, following her disappearance, she had proceeded to make changes to her physical appearance so as not to attract attention of those who were, undoubtedly, searching for her. At present, she possessed an abundant mane of lengthy, fiery, red hair as she had always loved her mother's red curls and wouldn't have minded inheriting it. With this change of hair colour came coloured contacts as bright blue as the azure blue sky outside, consisting with as many secrets and mysteries as the deep oceans spreading out towards the west.

After leaving the vampiric world, Rose had proceeded to set up a dhampir school or her own, one that currently upheld an astounding reputation and was known world-wide for its extensive and highly advanced training as it had turned out some of the world best young guardians in the two years since its establishment. Rose had named the school _Guardian Institute for Select Dhampirs_ , yes, it was an overly dull title, however when she first established the school, she had hoped to remain obscure and to not draw any attention to herself. Though, that had gone out the window as she had produced more and more highly skilled guardians who were now among the best in history.

This was what Rose was best at, it was her talent and she wished to pass on her knowledge as well as emphasise the importance of being a guardian. So far, her work had paid off; many were enraptured and mesmerised by her persistence and determination and could not help but be drawn under the influence of this young fighter. By day, she would preach the skills and knowledge of guardianship, therefore the school ran on a human schedule, however, by night, she would stalk out the city as well as surrounding areas of New York, hunting and slaughtering the unnatural, evil beings that were strigoi.

Occasionally, she would take a student or two out hunting with her, giving them experience in the career they were destined to take up, preparing them for the life ahead, though she would not do this unless she was thoroughly sure they were beyond well prepared.

She gazed steadily at the fifteen or so students that stood obediently before her. This was her entire school, small but necessary. She couldn't let a large amount of people know she was Rose Hathaway and had only accepted a limited amount of students into her prestigious school, those who were passionate about the life of guarding, the task of having someone else's life in their hands.

As she started the warm ups and exercises that were endured on a daily basis, proceeding to observe another instructor she had hired to instruct them in the languages of Russian and Romanian as well as a European and Asian language of the students choice, her cool, blue eyes sparkled with the emotion of pride, pride for the work she had contributed and pride for her students. Resigning for the day, she was oblivious to the drama that was yet to occur...

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><p><em><strong>(MUST READ NEXT PART)<strong>_** Apologies for the little cliff hanger there. Well, we now know what Rose has been up to, I think I may have lost a bit of my creativity in this chapter... **

**Anyway, I like my audience to contribute to the production of my stories so my question for you lot is: ADRIAN OR DIMITRI POV NEXT? **

**I think I will open a poll for this so head to my profile and vote.**

**Voting's will close after **_**12 noon, Saturday 1**__**st**__** of October Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)**_**. Having said that, I probably won't update in the next two or three days. In the mean time, feel free to review or message me even if it's just for a chat about books or life in general!**

**~ Angeliqa**


	5. Beautiful and Deadly

**Okaaay, we ended up with more Adrian votes so here it is! Don't worry, Dimitri will eventually show up.**

**Now, regarding the review of Katy Clay, thank you very much for the constructive criticism, I will attempt to be less "wordy", but it's kind of my writing style... extremely sorry for the slow development though! Although this is my first fanfic and I'm not used to writing in whole chapters and everything, most of the work I usually do consists of short stories where I try and pack in a whole lot of vocab and describe only sections of a characters life. **

**One last thing, I forgot to mention it in my last chapter, but big thank you to Nicky Morays for your generous help with the story line and ideas, don't know what I would have done without you.**

**Now, on with the story! xo**

**~Angeliqa**

APOV

The past two years had been some form of hell for the young man known as Adrian Ivashkov. With the disappearance of his girlfriend, he had, at first, resulted in drinking away his sorrows and misery, shutting away the outside world that so desperately wanted to reach him, to help him get back on his feet. It wasn't until Christian had approached him, after his honeymoon, that he had begun to awaken, seeing that his drinking habits were not going to do him any good nor was it going to get Rose back. They had, along with Belikov, decided they would begin their own search for Rose.

That had been a year ago, and a full year of searching had led them to the populated areas of New York City. It was one of the possible places where it was thought they would likely find Rose One place among many. However, it was worth the shot and as they careered down the bright streets, looking for a suitable hotel, Adrian's sharp moroi eyes picked up the dark shadows of strigoi, lurking in the depths of a nearby alley, feeding off a limp body. With that, he signalled towards the others, whilst the car screeched to a stop. Christian was determined to help with the use of his elemental powers, and they could not exactly leave Adrian in the vehicle alone, the three men piled out making their way towards the predators.

As they drew ever closer, the cruel red ringed eyes and deathly pale bodies swerved around to greet them. _It seems we have underestimated the numbers._ For in front of the trio stood a large number of evil creatures, more than ready to suck the life out of them. There was no heading back now and as the battle commenced with flaming attacks from Christian and strong, sure movements from the guardian beside him, he tried to stay concealed, attempting to blend into his surroundings. Of course, with those advanced strigoi senses, it wasn't long before one of strigoi's attention was turned towards him. Before he had time to react, his body, well built for a moroi, had been smashed into to the hard packed earth beneath and he felt the sharp needle points of teeth grazing his neck. Unimaginable fear coursed through his body. _This was it. With a couple of drains, I'll be dead and I haven't even done anything useful with my life._

Just as those sharp teeth stained with the blood of its previous victim were about to puncture his skin, a streak of flaming red, _or was it just Christian's fire?_, flashed across his peripheral vision, something struck the strigoi, knocking it off Adrian's body, and a strong hand came down, piercing the unnatural being straight through the heart. The next few seconds, _or was it hours?,_ he couldn't tell, all he knew was that it passed in a blur of blows and blocks, blood and fire. At long last, a heavy silence fell upon the battle area. Their saviour's sparkling blue eyes swept across the three of them, taking in their haggard appearances, her features impassive, revealing no emotion.

With a shake of her fiery, red hair, she spun on her heels strolling away from them. Beautiful and deadly. Once at the alleyways entrance, she twisted her head back. Those neutral features were now laced with a mocking form of amusement.

"Coming?" she called, then with a soft chuckle that seemed to revibrate off the walls of the alley, she swished around and resumed her walking, not bothering to see if we would follow.

**Terribly sorry for the slow development, but as you can probably see it is kind of coming together... I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Review!**

**~Angeliqa **


	6. Official Beginning

**So sorry for not updating everyone, but I have been a bit busy lately. No matter, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>They had scrambled up as quickly as they could, hurrying to catch up to the dhampir woman who had rounded the corner. As the cool night air had bit into their various wounds which were scattered across the body, they had approached a set of iron gates that opened up to a lawn that stretched around three separate structures. The middle one was evidently the main building with an east and a west wing which curved around to the front forming a form of semicircle.<p>

The young woman with the bright red hair had disappeared now, so the three men had walked up to the front doors and were greeted by a young lady with mousey brown hair in her mid-twenties who directed them to their rooms with a shout of "Breakfast is at 8.", before turning and walking away, leaving them to the privacy of their rooms.

And that was where Dimitri sat, delving in his thoughts, indulging himself in fond memories of his beloved Rose. His beloved Roza who he had pushed away, who he had sent running, disappearing from Court. As he wallowed in the guilt of his actions, he eventually found himself drift off to sleep...

_He saw himself. A strigoi. Those lifeless red eyes sat, glinting with evil and malice, gazing down possessively at his prey. His prey who was attempting in vain to break free of the strong hold. His meal who was Rose. Rose, now limp and lifeless. Rose dead. _

"NOOO!" he exclaimed, as he bolted awake and registered the sharp rapping of someone knocking on his bedroom door. With his long legs, he took a few strides, opening the door to reveal the young lady who had greeted them the night before.

"The headmistress wishes to meet with you and your companions personally after breakfast. Here are fresh clothes. Please change and I shall lead the three of you down to the cafeteria." _Headmistress? Cafeteria? Must be some kind of school. Hell. How had they ended up in a school? _Retreating into the rooms, he quickly got dressed and shoved on his duster. He rushed out of the room and met with the lady as well as Christian and Adrian. _Ugh. Adrian. _Usually, he couldn't stand the man, drinking and smoking, wasting his life away. A constant victim of his many vices. However at present, they were united behind a common goal.

_To find Rosemarie Hathaway._

Sighing, as the three men sat down for breakfast, he thought that if it wasn't for the fact that they were both vying for the love and attention of the same woman, Adrian Ivashkov may have been a decent guy.

As the students piled in, he could not help but note it was a tiny school consisting of probably fifteen or so students and _they were all dhampirs._

Dimitri's inner ramblings were interrupted by the lady, whose name he had learned was Laura, returned to escort them to the headmistress.

"We rarely receive guests therefore it is quite a change. The headmistress prefers to be more isolated than other schools. No one ever asks why. She is not one to be questioned." _Hmm...whoever this headmistress was, she appeared to be quite powerful for the others to be so admiring and fearful of her at the same time._ "When she fights," she continued, "it is as if God's very existence is inside this very woman." Her eyes had glazed over in amazement and adoration.

"She is usually down at the gym or tracks in the morning before classes begin, so please, do enter, she will be with you shortly.", gesturing towards two large ornate doors.

Stepping forward they pushed the door open and walked into the depths of the gym, through to the office on the side. As told, it was silent. There didn't appear to be anyone inhabiting the area. "Well, this almighty headmistress is quite the disorganised one." Christian muttered. Just then, an authoritive voice rang out across the room.

"I may be disorganised, however that most definitely does not prevent me from kicking your ass."

The comment gained no reaction from the guardian, although he had not expected her or heard her approach despite his advanced training, he merely hid his surprise under the characteristic guardian mask. The two moroi, however, sported expressions of surprise and shock for none of them had expected to come face-to-face once again, with the stunning red-headed beauty. With a smirk on her face, she announced:

"Welcome, dear friends, to the Guardian Institute for Select Dhampirs."

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><p><strong>I hope that was a good chapter for you all. Now, I have found that plenty of you add this story to your various favourites lists and whatever, but is it really too hard to write a small review? Even just a smiley face would do. Having said that, I would like to receive at least 10 reviews or else there will not be a next chapter... now we don't want that do we. So get reviewing! xoxo <strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	7. Ingenious

**Hehe, alright! I won't force you all for more reviews, but it would be nice if you could comment on my work every now and then, after all, I am putting quite a bit of time in for your entertainment. ;) So, here is chapter 7! Have fun reading!**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>She had been out in the cool air running laps, keeping up her fitness and training. It was what she did every day; she could never fully get rid of the words and lessons of her mentor. This thought brought her back to the events of the previous night. Frustration coursed through her body as she ran faster, pushing herself further<em>. What were they doing here, in the midst of New York? Not mention in an alley with strigois!<em> _Don't forget the fact that there was only one guardian with two royal moroi._

But what bugged her most was that it was _them_. Were they searching for her, or more precisely, for Rose Hathaway? If so, she could not fathom as to why they would make the effort. Well, Adrian she could, but the other two? She believed Christian may care for her in a brotherly manner deep down, but she could not imagine him participating in a search for her. And Dimitri? He didn't care for her anymore and had the guts to say it so cruelly to her face!

Rose jogged back inside. She had requested to meet with the three, to find out what it was they were doing and she had absolutely no intention of giving herself away. When she had first gone on the run, she had gone back to Mark and Oksana's and stayed with them for a couple of days. Oksana had kindly offered to charm a necklace which effectively concealed the bearer's true aura, much in the same way Avery had with her own. As the silver trinket bounced up and down whilst she walked inside, she couldn't help but be overly grateful for Oksana's deed and sent out a silent thank you to the spirit user.

Her office was beside the gym. She preferred it there as it was where she spent most of her time, either teaching students, observing, or training herself. As she silently crept in, she noted that the three were already seated, awaiting her presence.

"Well, this almighty headmistress is quite the disorganised one." She heard Christian mutter. Despite her resolve to stay cool and collected as well as nothing like the Rose they knew, she couldn't help it. His comment was begging for a typical Rose Hathaway remark. And with that she made her presence known, startling them in the process.

"I may be disorganised, however that most definitely does not prevent me from kicking your ass."

Smirking, she continued. "Welcome, dear friends, to the Guardian Institute for Select Dhampirs."

As she noted the surprised expressions that flickered across the features of the men, yes, even Dimitri Belikov, she was thoroughly amused. She seldom let guests enter the school grounds, and these three were most likely the first guests they'd ever had, therefore, no one knew much about the school, it was only known by reputation as well as their teaching standards.

"_This_ is the Guardian Institute for Select Dhampirs?" Adrian spluttered.

"I think I just said that. So, yes, I believe it is." She answered drily. Hell, she wasn't very good at this whole non-sarcasm deal.

She reached over to her chair and grabbed the grey hoodie lying on top, pulling it over her head to cover her partially exposed body. She felt it a bit unnerving, the way the men were ogling her. Well, Adrian at least. Swiftly, she turned around to face them just as Belikov officially began the conversation.

"And you are the headmistress of this school?" He questioned, earning a stern nod from the headmistress herself. Resuming her little game, Rose proceeded to ask the names of the three men whom she already knew quite well enough and introduced herself as "Marie" as she did not want to give away her true identity just yet. She felt the name fitting as it still connected with her given name however, did not allow her to be recognised by members of her past. With those quick it introductions she felt it best to get down to business, finding out why they were here.

"Following the events of last night, one cannot help question why the three of you were in that alley attempting to fend off strigoi. May I ask why you two, the infamous Lord Ozera and Lord Ivashkov, not to mention Guardian Belikov over here, are here in New York?" she questioned. She needed her suspicions confirmed. A look was passed between the three, seeking the others permission to explain their story. It was Belikov who began the explanation.

"Two , almost three years previously, a guardian known as Rosemarie Hathaway disappeared. I assume you have heard of her?" Ahh...so it was as she had suspected, they were here to find her. A flicker of amusement crossed her features as she thought about how close, yet how far away they were from finding her.

"Of course, everyone here knows of the great Rose Hathaway." She replied, inwardly smirking whilst keeping on her guardian mask. _Hey! I am pretty awesome._

Surprise flashed momentarily across his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came as he continued.

"Well, she ran away without a note or anything that hinted at where she was going or why, and so now we are on a mission to find her and bring her back. We have tracked her here to New York and we were merely trying to help the victim last night in the alley. Please," he said, a hint of desperation and pain crept into his voice now, "if you know anything about Rose or her whereabouts, it would be very much appreciated if you may share them with us."

"So let me get this straight," she replied, "you are out looking for a woman who disappeared from Court of her own accord, who is evidently putting in a fair bit of effort to stay concealed and who obviously does not want to be found?" Her question was met by a round of nods. "Should you not leave her alone? I mean, she clearly left for her own reasons, should you not respect her, give her the time and space she requires? She may come back if it wasn't your fault that she left in the first place." She was trying to throw them off, get them to return to Court and give up the search.

"But that's the problem." Adrian spoke for the first time, much to Rose's surprise; he was usually the talkative one. Apparently not in this case. "We may have said or done something to upset Rose, causing her to run off and we would like to find her...t-to apologise. Nothings the same without her around." _What? Apologise?_ This certainly was not what she had been expecting.

She stood for a while, scrutinizing all three faces, questioning the sincerity of the claim, wondering what how she should proceed regarding the matter at hand. In that instant, she received an idea. She would tell them she knew where this "Rose" was and give them false information, effectively leading them away. Concluding her thoughts, she managed to work up a reply.

"Well...I may know something or someone who may help you with your search, but my class is about to begin so we may need to continue this at a later time." Through the window, she could see her students, as they began crawling in.

With a glint of mischief in her blue eyes, she turned back and asked,

"How would you three like a special preview of one our classes? Mind you, it is quite the privilege; I don't usually let my guests in on my teaching secrets." She stated with a wink.

She strolled out towards her class and as with every other lesson; the room fell into immediate silence. However this time she decided to shake matters up a bit. Everyone had known she was mentored by the ex-strigoi Dimitri Belikov. So you can imagine the shocked expressions that came with her next statement.

"How would you all like it if I challenged our fellow guardian, Dimitri Belikov, over here to a sparring match? See what this school had to offer?" She enquired, as she was met by a round of cheering encouragement.

Pulling her jumper over her head to reveal a dark red sports bra and tossing it towards the wall, she spun around and crouched down.

"What do you say Dimitri?"

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><p><strong>So how was it? I hope that chapter was significantly longer in length. <strong>

**Having slight problems regarding the story line as this was originally going to be a one-shot. Any ideas?**

**Looking forward to all your reviews! xoxo**

**~Angeliqa**


	8. Suspicion

**Hello! I'd just like give a big shout out to dpower, olivia williams, Lock Ness monster13 and Nicky Morays for your help as well as everyone else for their reviews and ideas. It has helped me so much! And thank you to my lovely readers for reading this story as well. So...next chapter! XD**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>DPOV<p>

"_What do you say Dimitri?"_

He stood there in shocked silence, contemplating whether or not he should spar with her. Whatever he was expecting, it had certainly not been this. He realised in that second, that those words, what she had just said, was not an invitation that he could turn down. It was more of a command that left no room for negotiation. Whatever came out of that woman's mouth was official, there was no going against it and right now...well, she had just challenged him to a sparring match. A match he had no choice but to go forward with.

With a terse nod, he took off his duster and walked over to his opponent. It wasn't as if he was afraid of losing the match, after all, he knew he was among the best of guardians. It was the fact that there was something about this woman that was not quite right, there was something off about her. However, at the moment, he had no time to dwell on such thoughts as the fight had just begun.

The two dhampirs circled each other, taking the other in and sizing each other up. Finally deciding that something needed to be done, as well as having realised that Marie was certainly not going to make the first move, he stepped forward and took a swing, aiming for her stomach. Of course, she had been expecting this and blocked him easily enough, swinging around with astounding grace, she went for a blow behind the knees to which Dimitri evaded. The battle resumed in a skilled dance of attack and defence, with each opponent pulling out move after move, attempting each time, to dominate and overpower the other.

At long last, after much grappling and fighting that somehow still managed to appear beautiful and elegant, Marie, who was currently at a disadvantage for she was trapped under the huge Russian, skilfully elbowed the man painfully in the face, twirled and flipped so she was now crouching behind her opponent. She proceeded to trip him as well as surprise him in the process, without wasting another second she brought her hand down onto his chest, deeming him "dead".

Dripping in sweat and flushed with their effort, Marie slowly stood up and offered a hand to Dimitri whilst a round of raucous cheering and exclamations of amazement went up around the pair. Accepting the help, Dimitri got up from the gym floor and saw that the room was admiring him in awe despite the fact that he had clearly lost the fight. As Marie saw the confused expression that made its way over his features, she leaned in and whispered

"It's because no one has ever been able to hold me off for so long, they usually go down within a couple of minutes. Well done. Though I wouldn't expect any less from the great Dimitri Belikov."

As she looked past him, over his shoulder, she suddenly smirked and he heard a cry of

"Dimka!"

He spun around, just as he felt a two pairs of arms wrap around his neck and torso.

"Paul? Viktoria?" he asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe it; his sister and his nephew were here and had just witnessed him being beaten by some woman he barely knew!

"Wow! That was some fight, but it was about time someone handed you your ass." Adrian chuckled as he and Christian made their way over to where he was standing.

"Shut it Ivashkov, I may have been beaten, but that does not stop me from handing you _your_ ass right this second." They all stared at him in shock as Adrian paled.

"D-did the calm and cool Belikov, the almighty king of self-control, just threaten Adrian?" Christian teased.

"Rose's attitude sure rubbed off on you a fair bit man. Now, I assume these two are relatives of yours?" he inquired. It was evident in all three faces that the mention of Rose upset them, despite its joking manner.

After making appropriate introductions, Marie demanded the class resume and everyone returned to their places whilst the class continued with its usual routine. As the combat session finished up and the guests were helping Marie pack up the equipment, she asked them

"You know, you are more than welcome to stay here at the school whilst you're completing this investigation as long as you're willing to help with my classes. I could do with a helping hand and I may know some people who could help you with the search."

After much thought and consideration, it was eventually decided they would stay and find out as much as they could about Rose. As Dimitri walked up to his room, reflecting on the day's events, he realised there was something amiss regarding the sparring match. Marie was good, very good, however it bugged him that she knew his moves so well, as if she could predict everything he was going to do, before he had even formed the actions in his own mind. He had never known anyone who knew him as he knew himself...no one except Rose.

_No._

He dismissed the thought immediately, Marie couldn't be Rose, they were nothing alike, well, not really. Marie was lovely and sweet, with a softer nature, not that Rose was not any of those things, however Rose tended to be more rough and abrasive. Whether Marie's performance today was a result of natural skill and advanced guardian training or something else entirely, he didn't know, nor did he have the energy to work it out.

But as he closed his eyes to blissful oblivion, he could not help but feel a small tickle of hope towards the back of his mind and he felt closer to Rose than he ever had since the beginning of this tiresome search.

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><p><strong>Hmm...since you have all been such an amazing audience, I thought I might treat you with a bonus little bit in Lissa's POV, but I expect reviews in return! Hehe, enjoy!<strong>

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><p>LPOV<p>

Her thin hand snapped her phone shut and she heaved a great sigh. Christian had called telling her they had found a strong lead and were currently investigating matters at the Guardian Institute for Select Dhampirs. This came as a great surprise to her as no one knew much about the school, only that it had very good training and had produced some of the best guardians since the school was created two years back. It was a mystery and extremely secretive, why Christian and the others would be there was about as clear as mud to her.

She was aroused from her thoughts by a soft knock on her door. Quickly getting up she rushed to greet her visitor who just happened to be Eddie and Mia. She found herself explaining the situation so far to the pair and just wishing she could be with them. Eddie, no doubt, felt the same way for he had been left behind to protect Lissa.

Mia's eyes lit up as an idea occurred to her.

"We could go and visit them. No, better still, let's surprise them!"

And so it was decided that the following week, they would pay a much needed visit to the guardian institute.

_One week._ She thought, just one week and she would be united with Christian once again. One week, and she could finally fully participate in the ongoing search for her best friend.

_One week._

_I'm sorry, but I need you whether you would like to be found or not. _

_I know you're close, I can feel it._

_I'm coming Rose..._

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><p><strong>Just making it clear that Lissa doesn't know Rose is going to be there. So I hope you liked that, please review and give your thoughts and ideas on what's to come! I'd really like your input. Thanks!<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	9. Arrivals

**So terribly sorry for not updating, but I have been experiencing internet troubles and haven't been able to upload this chapter. So to make up for my lack of updating, I thought I might add another extra bit from Adrian's POV. Proceed!**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>She was a robot. Performing actions, but not really seeing or thinking about them. Sitting at her desk, her back faced the windows that overlooked the front grounds, oblivious to the immaculate green lawns, the exercise areas that were always being used, the parking lot where their guest's vehicle sat after their alleyway mishap...or the entrance of a sleek black car with black tinted windows rolling through the front gates...<p>

She released a gusty breath, attempting to calm herself down, clenching and unclenching her fists. Paperwork had never been her thing and her mind kept wondering to the three guests being housed in their extra rooms. Questions and problems bounced around the inside of her mind, each bounce slowly broke down her carefully established layer of self-control until it was as thin as a square of plastic wrap. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the soft exterior of her chair, her mind brought her back to the events of a couple of days before.

She had come too close, so dangerously close to revealing her true identity.

_It had been a few days after their sparring match and she believed he had finally gotten over the embarrassment of being beaten, for he had just opened the gym door and she could clearly make out his tall and muscular frame walking with graceful steps towards her office. That frame that had pinned her so many times in their training sessions, that had towered over her before she made her final move two days previously, the very same frame that had pressed her naked body to the soft sheets within the cabin..._

No._ She mentally chastised herself. He didn't love her anymore, and he couldn't care less about what she was doing and where she was._

Then why is he here helping with the search for you?_ An inner voice had questioned. _

_Her troubling thoughts were interrupted as the skilled hand of the guardian rapped against the door, requesting entrance to the office. She had kept the guests around and asked them to stay as she needed to find out all the details of their search so she was able to fully direct them away from the truth. That, and the fact that she was curious as to their reasons for searching for her, she intended to find out each of their reasons for doing so._

"_Come in!" she called whilst trying to figure out the multiplying amount of numbers that teased her from the white sheet of paper. _I guess some things never change.

"_What can I do for you Guardian Belikov?" she asked as she glanced up from her papers._

"_I was wondering...if I could use your training and exercise facilities during my stay here at the institute. I could assist you with all of your training sessions and help out with the students studying Russian in return." he replied in resonant timbre that caused shivers of heat and lust to course through her body. _

_She burst out laughing, amusement clear in her features. _Of course he would be asking about training.

"_Of course you may, don't want to become slack now, do we?" as she let out a soft chuckle. "And I could use the extra help in the classes, especially from such an experienced guardian such as yourself." _

"_Thank you ma'am, I really do appreciate all you have done for us to make us feel comfortable here."_

"_It's my pleasure. And please, it's Marie. Oh! Hey Co—"she stopped herself short, all too aware of what she was about to come out of her mouth, the unique nickname that would give her away. "Uh, could you please arrive at the tracks outside at 6:00 am sharp to begin training? That would be greatly appreciated." _

_She put on her most charming man-eater smile in an effort to cover the small slip up she had just made. With a questioning look in his eyes, he swiftly nodded and retreated out the door leaving Rose alone in her office recalling her small, yet dangerous mistake._

There was a sudden knock on her office door and Laura's mousey brown head popped through the open crack.

"Excuse the interruption Miss, but there are three visitors requesting to see you."

_Who could be here to see her? No one had booked an appointment with her, unless she had gotten her times mixed up._

"Have they made an appointment?"

"No ma'am, but they say they are here with Lord Ozera and his companions."

_What? More people to help with the search? This was not going to be good._

"Alright, send them in." She replied in a resigned tone.

She was exhausted after having not received much sleep the night before, constantly worrying about the investigation, and as she rubbed her eyes in tired frustration she found that she really was not up for visitors at the moment. What she needed was a good workout to release all her pent up negative energy, as well as a certain group of people off her tail.

An attention grabbing cough was finally heard as she glanced up to see her three visitors standing at the entrance to the room. They were perhaps the most three unwanted visitors at the moment. Three more people too add to the group that she needed to get off her back.

Blinking her sleep away, she hurriedly made the appropriate bow that accompanied a royal moroi and introduced herself, whilst introductions were made by her guests.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Princess Dragomir? Are you here to assist Lord Ozera and his friends with the search for a certain female dhampir?" She inquired in a cool voice, keeping her guardian mask plastered in place.

"I—yes, I assume Christian told you?"

"Well if you're all going to barge into my school, I would prefer to know the reason why." Smirking despite her overall tiredness, she continued as she could see that Lissa was about to come up with an apology.

"I will have someone take your belongings up to your rooms." effectively cutting her off. Standing up, she walked briskly out the door.

"Come right this way. Lord Ozera and his companions are currently assisting students in my language classes. I will take you to them. It is time for my combat class anyway."

She had approached the small classroom in which the Russian classes were being conducted. Not that Adrian or Christian really knew much Russian, they may have studied them at their respective academies, but they usually just hung around whilst Dimitri helped the students.

"Good afternoon everyone, sorry for the interruption but Lord Ozera, Lord Ivashkov and Guardian Belikov, you are required outside. Now, for our combat class this afternoon, you are to meet me outside on the tracks, understood?" she said in a firm tone, and was met by a round of nods.

"You three, come with me."

It seemed the three men had not planned on Lissa, Eddie or Mia joining their search because as they walked out of the classroom, their faces all registered some degree of shock and surprise.

"Liss?" Christian asked, "What are you doing here?" as they rushed to embrace. It really was a sweet sight, the two were definitely meant for each other.

"We're here to help you find Rose. I can't just sit around at Court doing nothing while she's out there. I _need_ to see her Christian!" she exclaimed.

"I know Liss, she seems to have hid herself extremely well, but I promise, I swear on my life that we will find her, no matter what."

Hearing their conversation, Rose felt a flurry of conflicted emotions threatening to override her guardian mask. The emotions flowing through the bond told her that Lissa really needed her.

_Maybe I should reveal myself to her, just her..._

Glancing at her watch, she realised she needed to get to her class now. With relief, she excused herself and after informing Belikov that he would not be needed today she headed off in the direction of the tracks to begin her lesson.

Loud music blared from her earphones as she punched and kicked, letting out all her frustration and anger. _Why was her life never simple?_ Pausing for a quick drink of water, she noticed that when she bent down the silver chain that was usually suspended from her neck, did not follow her movement. Her hand reached up to her throat as she began to panic and her head frantically swept from side to side, checking to see if it had accidently come off in her blind moment of rage.

She felt a soft tap on her shoulder.

Spinning around, she came face to face with none other than Adrian Ivashkov.

"Woah! Calm down there. I assume you're looking for this." As he handed her the charmed necklace. With a grateful nod, she clasped the chain around her neck and reached for her belongings, silently rushing out the door without another backwards glance.

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><p>APOV<p>

As long as he kept walking, all he saw was the ground.

The buildings and architecture of the school.

He was wondering the school grounds and had just approached the gym, his mind, as always, was thinking about his little dhampir, wondering where on earth she could be hiding. He hadn't been able to get to her through a spirit dream as she must have taken some precautions and blocked him somehow.

Maybe through another means of spirit?

It was times like these where he wished he had the fitness and the motivation for long hours was of workout similar to the ones Rose would do when she got frustrated, angry or just had a lot on her mind. He probably shouldn't be smoking around the school grounds in case a student saw him or one of the adults told him off for it, but at the moment he thought that a nice screaming match would be just about right in his current state of mind.

But he didn't head back to his room. As he entered the training area, he was startled to find that his presence was not the only one. _Maybe the screaming match wouldn't be such a good idea. _Towards the centre of the gym, a punching bag swung wildly from the kicks and punches of a red headed dhampir, in danger of swinging off from where it was suspended. He tried to get a glimpse of her aura, however in his intoxicated state, the smoke and alcohol in his body prevented him from doing so.

A glitter of silver caught his eye and he looked down to see a shiny silver necklace lying on the floor. _It must be Marie's._ As he bent down to pick it up, he felt the tiniest jolt of something magical, a strange vibe radiating off the object. It was familiar. Too familiar.

_Spirit._

But what would Marie be doing with spirit? Let alone a charmed spirit object. She had stopped her assault of the punching bag and was reaching for her bottle of water when she realised she had lost her necklace. Adrian watched in amusement as she frantically searched about, still oblivious to his presence. Finally deciding to relieve her of her worry, he silently walked over and tapped her lightly upon the shoulder.

"Woah! Calm down there. I assume you're looking for this?" He inquired in the characteristic Adrian Ivashkov drawl as he handed her the necklace.

There was a grateful nod from her, as she quickly picked up her gym bag and rushed, all too quickly, out of the room. _Strange._ As much as he disliked admitting it, Belikov had a point. There was most definitely something awfully unsettling about the schools headmistress. There were secrets in her eyes. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but he certainly intended to find out.

At long last, he left his spot and walked back to his room, leaving the doors of the gym swinging silently shut behind him.

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><p><strong>So...I hope you enjoyed that! Again, I apologize for not updating sooner. <strong>

**Now, I am afraid that today is the last day of school holidays so I don't know when I will be able to update again. It depends on how much school work I have...but don't worry, I do plan on finishing this story, just a lot slower than it would probably be liked. So please, stick around. xoxo**

**~Angeliqa**


	10. Precipice

**Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed that last chapter! Now here's Chapter 10.**

**Excuse any mistakes I may have made in this chapter, I was kind of rushing :S**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>EPOV<p>

There was something disconcerting and unsettling about this school.

Not in the weird, creepy way that you often find yourself feeling in the midst of scary movies that consist of haunted houses and the silhouettes of the gnarled, twisted arms of trees as the blinding light of lightning flashed in the back ground. No, this place may actually be the opposite of that; however it seemed to contain mysteries and secrets in every square of its surface, along every windowsill, through every door and in every architectural crack and crevice you could find.

Since his sudden arrival at the infamous school three days ago, he had taken every opportunity he could to learn as well as pass on his knowledge of the art of guarding. He had stuck by the headmistress and asked her to teach him all she knew, and in return, he shared his own knowledge with her as well as her class. He felt it was a privilege to be allowed this time with the best guardian school in the world, what's more, he got lessons from the headmistress herself.

The headmistress of the school was a shortish red haired dhampir with sparkling blue eyes and reminded him, appearance wise, of Mason. He felt his heart tug as the name was thought of. _Why do I get the chance of enjoying the miracles of life, when Mase doesn't? _He wished it had been him who had died in Spokane and not his best friend.

_Argh._ He packed a punch full of negatives vibes, both from the thoughts of Mason that were conjured as well as their progress with the search for Rose, as if trying to challenge all his negativity and darkness into this one brick wall. The pain of the impact caused him to jump back and exclaim in discomfort, swearing loudly, he turned his face up to the twinkling stars scattered above. He was still adjusting to functioning on human time and

_Rose. Where are you?_

A small, almost imperceptible noise resounded from the trees and bushes nearby, immediately attracting his attention. He stealthily made his way over towards the sounds which were becoming louder and louder as he drew closer. It was clear now that the sobs were a escaping from the mouth of a certain red haired dhampir, whilst streams of wet moisture glided down her face from her lovely blue eyes, oceans of blue crying streams of tears and sorrow.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, concern lacing every syllable of his question.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, a shock of surprise jolted through her mind. Her mind had been so wrapped around her troubling thoughts that she had not noticed Eddie's presence.

"I-I...I don't really know…" she said in between audible sobs. She attempted to wipe the tears away, not willing to let Eddie see her in her current state, however, they kept flowing, erasing the effort she had just put in to wipe them away.

He walked over and put an arm around her shoulders and murmured soothing words to her, attempting to calm her down. As her sobs ceased along with her tears she lifted her eyes to Eddie's and decided then that she would get this massive burden off her shoulders and give herself up. Even if they knew who she really was, it didn't mean she couldn't continue living her new life. And so with that conclusion, she began.

"I-I can't do this anymore, all this…" she swept a calloused hand down her whole body, gesturing towards her changed appearance.

"I need to get this off me, release this—"she stopped short and let out a gasp that immediately had Eddie on high alert. She got to her feet as so quickly that he barely had time to register what was going.

"Wha—"he began but was cut off by the sharp word she threw at him next.

"Strigoi!"

He had no time to conjure a reply as they were being ambushed by at least two or three strigoi.

"Go!" she hissed at him. "Run, warn the others inside the institute, I'll hold them off."

"But—"

"Just go, I can hold them off. Think of all the lives at stake and what could happen if you don't get the message through. Now run as fast as you can. Go!" she urged him, before she was attacked by an onslaught unnatural monsters.

Adrenaline pumping in massive amounts through is veins, he sprinted back towards the school and literally crashed through the large double doors.

"Strigoi!" He shouted. "We're being attacked by strigoi!"

He had to admit, this school was extremely organised. In a matter of a couple of minutes, the entire school was in lock down. Younger students were ushered towards safety whilst guardians and experienced novices were split into groups and led outside to take on the wave of strigoi.

It reminded him of the St. Vladimir's massacre a few years back. Once again, he had been a victim of the evil creatures that night, just like in Spokane. However, this time round, no more. He would not suffer as the victim; no longer would he be the petty meals and snacks of strigoi. This time he would dominate, he would shred these strigoi apart till they were a mass of curling string, like masses of spaghetti or pasta. This time he would pay them back for what they had done to Mason, to his best friend.

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><p><strong>Sorry, everyone but this is a short chapter as I only have time for this much. I will try and update ASAP but once school starts…well, it's chaos! Anyway, hope you liked that, let me know what you think!<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	11. Relapse

**WEEKEND! So that means an update! Sorry, this chapter is in fact, shorter than my last, but to make up for that, I promise an update tomorrow as well. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>LPOV<p>

When your life is in the hands of another living being, it kind of gets scary. Even if this other being, or beings in my case, are two very experienced guardians with advanced training and I suppose, even more so when one of them is a certain towering, intimidating, ex-strigoi Russian. So as always, she did the only thing she knew how to do in these situations.

She stood still.

A lifetime of memories replayed through her mind as she prayed hard to the gracious Lord that there wouldn't be too many casualties after the events of this most likely, tormenting night. She always dismissed the thought of a person's life flashing before their eyes as death crept up upon them, she thought it was just absurd and stupid, however as she froze, believing the very worst, she saw parents and her brother, her and Rose at St. Vladimir's, their little escapade, her secret meetings with Christian, Victor Dashkov, Spokane drama, the St Vladimir massacre, Rose's trip to Russia, Avery, breaking Victor out of Tarasov, restoring Dimitri and finally Rose's disappearance and all the events following that.

She stood still as Dimitri and Eddie as well as a battalion of guardians swooped down upon the advancing strigoi, deadly and graceful.

She stood still as the ghostly ship that was the moon sailed high into the dark cloudy seas.

She stood still as Christian ran towards her and held her in a protective embrace, preparing to protect her with his elemental magic.

She stood still as the flaming red headed headmistress took down strigoi after strigoi, a slaughtering machine of flesh. They had been correct in saying she was something to behold when she truly fought.

At last, she was not the only one who stood so still. Dead bodies of strigoi were sprawled across the grounds, soaked in a sticky red liquid and decorated with the scars of battle. She felt a reassuring hand shake her out of her mindless state and a wave of emotions crashed back into her as she realised they were all out of immediate danger.

There was relief, oh yes, there was plenty of that, but there was another feeling that overpowered everything else. A need for comfort. However, not comfort from anyone. No. Not even Christian soothe this rough sea she was drowning in, this hurricane she was being thrown about in or this fire of anguish she was burning to charred remains in. Most definitely not. There was only one person who could save her from this emotional disaster, but she was gone, she had disappeared.

_Argh!_ She mentally cried. She couldn't do this any longer. She simply had to let this out.

With a last effort, she persuaded her friends of her need to rest and that recent events had taken a massive toll on her well being and returned to her room to grab an object. An object which had not seen the light of the world since she had made the momentous decision to cut it out of her life.

She made her way outside, to the crisp breeze of midnight and further out, to the small pond surrounded by plants of marvellous beauty, however, the stench of death and decay suffocated these plants and took away any joy it brought to the environment. Nervously, she brought the razor to the soft skin of her wrist, placing it along the slight crease that lined the surface. The sharp blade glinted in the pale light of the moon.

Her mind was a slippery mess of emotions and thoughts, burdens and responsibilities. As the blade sank though her soft flesh, she let the pain consume her mind. It felt good, so unbelievably good, to get away from the massive mess that was her life and to focus on this pain, pain that momentarily took away all her other worries.

Soon enough, her knees gave way as she collapsed to the carpet of grass beneath. Not long after, the consequences of losing so much blood took over as she blacked out, losing all consciousness.

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><p><strong>Again, sorry for the shortness of this chapter.<strong>

**So, I was thinking Rose reveals herself after she sees how much Lissa really needs her right now, but only to Lissa…for now. What do you think? xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	12. Decisions

**So this chapter is only about 100 words longer…all I can do is ask for your forgiveness. **

**And now presenting…Chapter 12!**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>RPOV<p>

_Guilt._

No matter how many times she did this, there was always an underlying feeling of guilt. Guilt for the life lost as her silver stake sank through flesh. Guilt for their past life, the one where they hadn't been an immortal being stalking the earth. The glinting stake darted through the last strigoi's chest and she stood, panting and dripping from her effort, as a thick quilt of silence fell upon the battlefield.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head towards the many twinkling eyes of heaven above, taking a moment to collect and gather herself together. When she opened them and slowly turned around, she was met with the awed gazes of her audience. She knew she was a very skilled guardian; however the piercing stares she was receiving were really putting her on edge. Finally having had enough, she snapped.

"Well, get on with the cleaning up! Have I somehow skipped that lesson?" she exclaimed in fury at her students who scurried away to collect the dead bodies. The guardians seemed to have come back from their frozen states at the sound of her voice and were methodically taking care of the rest of the business.

She felt their presence before she saw them.

Spinning around, she was met by the bodies of two guardians and a moroi.

"Excuse me Marie, but I just have one question." Eddie approached cautiously.

"Go on."

"How did you know there was strigoi on the school grounds when we were um…outside earlier? I-I've only met one person who could tell there was strigoi before she actually saw the thing herself…and…that was Rose, but that was because she was shadow-kissed."

_Oh shit._ In the heat of the attack and the breakdown beforehand, she hadn't stopped to think about that small problem. _Oh, I just love thinking on the spot._

"I, uh…well, I don't really know. Ever since I could remember, I've always had some unnatural sense of strigoi's being close by. It sort of just like a nervous tingling and uneasiness at the back of my brain." She explained, hoping and praying that the fact that she didn't know either, would be enough to put them off.

"Oh…ok. Well, Dimitri and I should be helping out everyone else. Thanks for your time headmistress." With that, they walked away leaving her with Christian. Rose wasn't entirely certain that he had bought her flimsy explanation, however, before she could do anything about it, she felt herself being pulled into the depths of Lissa's mind.

_She was sprinting. Feet trashing through the grass towards the small she had had made for the students pleasure only a few months ago. Her mind was a mess, she could not grab hold of a single thought, she ––_

Suddenly, she was jolted back by a fierce hand shaking her shoulder. However, not before she felt the sharp blade of a razor being sliced across skin…

It was Christian.

She had completely forgotten his presence. Blinking furiously, she hurriedly excused herself and ran away; away towards the pond where Lissa was laying unconscious, in a pool of her own blood.

The sight was almost more than she could bear and a wave of déjà vu swept through her as she recalled their days back at the academy just after their return. Her expensive clothes as well as her platinum blonde hair were drenched in blood. She forced her legs to move and her arms, heavy with horror, to pick up her best friend. She crashed through the front doors and in through to the infirmary, where she shouted strict orders and demands for the doctor and for the patient's friends to be notified about her current state.

She reminded herself that she needed to play dumb as all the figures from her past came rushing through the doors.

"What the hell happened?" Christian roared, mild concern and worry etched across every surface of his body.

"I found her outside near the pond while I was doing a check up on the wards." She lied smoothly. Well, partially lied.

As the doctor finished bandaging Lissa up, Rose quietly made sure that she was going to be alright and silently slipped out the door.

_Yes._ She thought as she jogged around the tracks, attempting to clear her mind.

Lissa needed her too much right now and no, she didn't need "Marie", the headmistress of a renowned guardian training school, not red-headed Marie who was quiet and observing, who held the respect of everyone for her outstanding teaching methods. Not Marie who was merely a host, only someone who provided them with accommodation while they went on the search for their beloved missing friend.

No, most definitely not. What Lissa needed was Rose, she needed Rose to be there for her and comfort her, she needed the Rose who was reckless and fierce, who was respected for those qualities, but most of all, she needed to know that Rose was safe and well. That she was alive and breathing, that her heart was beating and not in some cold, immortal state between life and death.

_Yes. I will tell her. Some secrets need to be told._

And so it was, after almost three long years of hiding and disguise, she slowly made her way to the bright lights of the infirmary. Towards the now conscious Lissa, towards the revealing of her most covert secrets of the past two years, towards the drama of hurt, anger and forgiveness that was bound to occur in the near future.

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><p><strong>Alright, that's all I have time for and I know I'm getting slower and slower here, but I'm aiming at dragging this out because then the revealing will be more enjoyable! Would love to know what you thought of this chapter! xo<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	13. Reveal

**I've probably been killing you all! So sorry! Hope you guys like this chapter. Xo**

**~Angeliqa**

* * *

><p>LPOV<p>

Oppressing darkness.

A heavy, suffocating unconsciousness of thoughtless oblivion. She couldn't tell whether what she was experiencing was reality or not, whether the black nothingness was the back of her eyelids or just some imaginary space her mind had created.

_No, I'm definitely awake now._

Her eyes remained shut, relishing these few precious moments of calming peace and silence. She heard the soft pads of approaching footsteps long before they reached her room. She realised with a start she was in the infirmary and the horrid events of the previous night broke the embankment that her unconscious state had formed, and flooded back to her, engulfing her in a river of dark and dangerous thoughts.

A light amused laugh seeped through the open space and reached her sensitive moroi ears. The laugh was somewhat…familiar and tickled the edges of her brain, teasing her with its meaning.

"You may open your eyes now; I know you're well awake."

Sighing, she did as she was told and was met by the sight of the school's headmistress, her back facing her, her blue eyes gazing emotionlessly out the part in the curtains which she had just made. The bright illumination pouring in from that small break in the material irritated her eyes, sensing her discomfort she let the soft, blue fabric fall back with a murmur of apology.

"May I inquire as to what you are doing here, Marie?" her voice quivered unsteadily, still recovering from recent events.

"I— "she paused, not quite certain as to how she was to continue.

She couldn't see her expression clearly so she could not discern the emotions playing around on her face or more likely, the guardian mask she had firmly in place. Despite those obstacles however, she could sense an air of nervousness radiating from the dhampir. It was evident whatever she had come here for was of paramount importance.

Marie had moved her body towards a lovely picture of a vase of flowers, painted with warm colours that lit up the plain white walls of the room. Taking a calming breath, she resumed.

"Well, for a start, I guess you probably shouldn't call me Marie." Confusion clouded her mind, spreading through like a drop of food dye would snake through water, its curling tendrils spreading out in every which way.

"I don't know whether you or any of the others have noticed, but I do have a fair few secrets stashed away and I haven't exactly been very good at keeping them…" Yes, she had been a strange woman, even Dimitri and Adrian had expressed their suspicions.

"What I'm about to tell you now may anger you to a fair degree, but you must see that I had my reasons. However, most importantly, I don't want you to tell _anyone_, not a soul."

_What was so important that had her so worked up like this?_

However, she merely nodded, curiosity clearly marked her features.

Her back was still turned to her.

"Do you not find anything about me slightly…familiar? Unsettling, maybe?"

The words invoked in her the urge to examine her closely. She took in her stance, the way her body was positioned. _No, she has the typical guardian posture._ _No wait._ She had never looked this closely at her before, however as her gaze swept over the very curvy figure of the guardian.

Familiarity. Curvy figure.

The sudden intake of breath signalled to the other woman in the room, her sudden realisation.

She tore herself away from her fascination with the painting with a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

_She_ turned.

Whilst she stared.

And stared.

Stared at the eyes that were no longer a calm ocean of blue.

Eyes that held the familiar brown hue she had missed so much.

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><p><strong>I should probably stop with the cliff hangers…<strong>

**I will try and update tomorrow, emphasis on try. Hope you enjoyed that one, the secrets out!**

**~Angeliqa**


	14. Mishaps

**Yay! An update! Here's the next chapter. Xo**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>RPOV<p>

"_Do you not find anything about me slightly…familiar? Unsettling, maybe?"_

Frozen and still she stood.

Heavy silence filled the room as she felt Lissa take a really good look at her. Felt her scrutinise every inch of her body. In preparation she had taken off her blue contacts in case Lissa really wasn't smart enough to figure matters out, however, apparently not as the sharp sound of her gasp cut through the thick silence.

This was it.

_There's no going back now._

Ever slow slowly, she turned around from the painting on the wall and met the jade green eyes of her best friend.

"R-Rose…?" she stuttered uncertainly.

Carefully and cautiously, she offered a small smile of assurance.

Her expression held a range of emotions. Relief. Happiness. However, among those there was also a combination of anger. Unfortunately, this anger was backed up and fuelled by the spirit darkness within her which ultimately led to the screeching fit of accusations that followed.

"What the fuck did you think you were doing? Disappearing like that! No note, no message, nothing at all. Did you even _stop_ to think about everyone else? About everything and everyone you were leaving behind?" She was a raging fire of pale colours, deadly and dangerous.

"You just up and left us! What about me, Rose? What about Dimitri? You're so stupid Rose! Do have any idea what you put him through? What you put all of us through? Your sudden disappearance erased whatever progress we were making with him! You – you…inconsiderate, self conceited…bitch!"

It was the darkness. This was not the calm and collected Lissa, this was a monster of fury and darkness.

In a past life, she would have snapped. Her strong fist would have flown out in a millisecond, crashing into her delicate jaw, smashing it into God knows how many infinitesimal pieces. However, over the years, she had gradually built up a strong layer of self-control and she now stood calmly before the blind rage of Lissa.

Bracing herself, she entered her head through the bond they shared, taking the dark, filthy mess that was the catalyst of her irrational attitude. She felt the blind, hot rage of fury enter her mind and with her last bit of control, resisted against the urge to lash out. She had closed her eyes and was taking deep, calming breaths as she eventually returned to her right state of mind.

"Oh Rose!" Lissa cried, sobbing quietly.

Quickly, she made her way over to the side of her bed, pulling her into a tight embrace as she calmed down from her murmurs of apologies.

"What are you going to do?" she finally asked.

"I don't know Liss. But for now, I don't want any of the others knowing. For now, I'm still Marie."

"I'm just so relieved!"

"Hush. You're tired and you need your rest, go to sleep now."

"But I'm afraid that when I wake up, you won't be here anymore."

"Don't worry Liss, I'm not going anywhere." She said in a firm reassuring voice.

With that, exhaustion took over her and she fell into a calming sleep. Rose heaved a great sigh. _What exactly was she going to do now?_

"What are you doing here?" The cry startled her and she jumped from her position beside Lissa's bed.

"I—I was just checking to see if the princess was alright. I am always concerned for the safety of my guests, especially after recent events." She quickly said, avoiding eye contact with Christian.

"Did I just catch a guardian off guard? Wait, no, did I just catch Marie by surprise?" Of course he would be the one to make a joke out of the situation.

"Consider this the only time, sparky." She snarled menacingly, which earned her a confused look as well a slight difference in the colour of his complexion.

"Wait, sparky?" _Shit._

"Uh…yeah, I hope you don't mind, I heard one of your friends calling you that the other day." Argh. Her brief exposure as "Rose" had already uncovered her former attitude and personality!

"I have some headmistress duties to attend to now, have a nice day Lord Ozera."

She hurried out the door and rushed up to her room.

"Ugh! What the hell have I done!" she screamed in a fit of frustration, grabbing one of her pillows and chucking it at the wall with all her force. The soft object struck the wall with a thunk and plopped to the ground where it landed next to her wooden bedside table.

Her bedside table with the top drawer sticking out.

_Did I leave the drawer like that?_ She went over to the drawer and rummaged through the items inside. Nothing was out of place; maybe she just left it like that and forgot. With all that was going on lately, the situation seemed quite plausible.

"I need a shower." She said to no one in particular and grabbed some clothes, closing the door of the bathroom behind her. The patter of the water on her naked body soothed her as her muscles relaxed and her mind pondered through her troubles. She would keep in contact with Lissa, that was certain, maybe Lissa could convince them to give up the search?

She hopped out of the shower, however as she did so, she thought she heard the faintest click of her door shutting. The door to the entrance of her room.

No, I couldn't be as she dismissed the thought immediately and headed down for her combat class.

* * *

><p><strong>Excuse the colourful words, but I felt it was appropriate. So, was it her imagination? Or was there actually someone in her room? Haha, hope enjoyed that one!<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	15. Decent

**Sorry! I've been studying for exams and everything and haven't had the time to update, however it's Melbourne Cup weekend, which means lots of horse racing, betting and of course, a four-day weekend. Yay! Anyone like horse racing or riding? **

**I have made this chapter significantly longer. I think… Have fun!**

**~Angeliqa**

* * *

><p>DPOV<p>

The startling appearance of his sister and nephew at a school he barely knew was quite the surprise, however he did not complain as it was perhaps the most pleasant event that had occurred since Roza's disappearance. He spent as much of his time with them as he could and caught up on everything back in Russia.

Though there was something amiss.

_How in the world did they end up in New York? How did they find the money to get here, let alone study at such a prestigious school?_

Oh, there were definitely answers and he certainly hadn't missed the strange glances thrown at the headmistress by Viktoria. And so it was, he had finally resorted to pestering and bugging the answers out of his own sister…

.

.

.

It was a typical Wednesday afternoon for the residents of the institute, classes had just finished and Dimitri and Viktoria were left to themselves as they packed up the equipment. Once done, Dimitri offered to take her outside of the school grounds to go grab some ice-cream. He had already asked the headmistress for permission to do so. It was time to unravel this network of mysteries.

"Why have you just suddenly decided to take me out for ice-cream? I thought you would be busy on that case with Roza." Viktoria questioned, whilst slowly lapping at the dribbling colors of her cone.

"What? Can't a brother take his sister out for a family outing? We haven't exactly had much quality time together in the past few years…"

"Right. But if it was a 'family outing', as you call it, why isn't Paul with us? If I know you, and I'm pretty sure I do, there is most definitely an ulterior motive behind this treat."

Her comment was met with silence.

Ever the impatient one, she broke the silence.

"Well? I know you want to say something, spit it out Dimka."

He saw no point in denying the claim, so with a sigh, he began.

"OK, well I actually have a whole load of questions, but I'll start off with the simplest. Why are you here in New York?"

"Uh…to study and become a guardian maybe?" she replied drily.

"Ugh! Viktoria!" he exclaimed, whilst she smirked.

"Alright, well how did you get here? Where did you find the money to fly to New York? Why wasn't I told about this?" he stopped himself, realising he had just thrown about a dozen questions at his poor sister.

"Woah! Slow down there, one at a time if you don't mind."

"Sorry."

"Well firstly, we met the headmistress a few years back, and provided her with a place to stay whilst she was in Russia hunting strigoi. This was before she decided to take up teaching. A few months later, she began selecting students to take with her to New York to start up a new Guardian school, she offered Paul and I a spot considering our family's hospitality and she also knew I had a strong desire to become a guardian." She lied smoothly.

It was a cover story her and Rose had gone over many times for these exact purposes. She didn't like lying to her own brother, however when it came to Rose…well…she owed her a lot.

"As for money, mama had been saving up some money. Marie had offered to pay for the tickets, but mama insisted she pay for at least half. And we didn't tell you because well…you've been busy, we figured you needed time and it wasn't that important anyway…"she trailed off knowing that didn't sound all that convincing; the last part anyway.

"Not that important?" he literally screamed in disbelief. "What part of my family members moving to New York to be trained by a woman who seems to be full of secrets and lies is not important?" He was fuming. His usual well-controlled state had disappeared and he was taking all his pent up anger out on his sister.

"Please, Dimka, you need to ca—"

"I need to calm down? Well, tell me this Viktoria," he said in a dark, quiet tone, attempting to rein in his out of control emotions. "Tell me this, what's going on with that headmistress of yours? What has she got to hide? I've caught her stopping short in the middle of sentences as if she just suddenly realised she was going to give something away, Ivashkov found her the other night with a spirit charmed necklace and just yesterday, she called Christian 'Sparky', claiming she had heard one of us call him that. Maybe we did or maybe we didn't. Ugh! I don't know!" he cried. "I don't know what to believe anymore Vika, I really don't." he finished his ramble, his voice no louder than a whisper.

His sister hated seeing him in such emotional agony, but she couldn't possibly give Rose away, she could only comfort him and Rose could decide whether the truth should be told or not.

"Dimka, I don't know what you think is going on, but as far as I know there is nothing here, no secrets or lies." It pained her to be doing this, but Rose had done so much for her.

"Oh really, Vika? Really? Stop lying to me! I'm not stupid you know, I haven't missed the glances you've been giving Marie."

Viktoria sighed.

"It's not my place to tell you. If Marie wants you to know, she will. That's the way things are around here." This was all she would say, no more. She hoped that giving him the impression that Marie was the one in charge and should not be provoked, which was in fact quite true, would satisfy his questioning or at least put him off for a while.

The sun overhead, was sitting fairly low on the horizon now, signifying the coming of evening. They had made their way back through the gates of the school, finishing off the last bites of ice-cream.

"Look Vika, I'm really sorry for snapping and all the questions. I hope you'll forgive me."

"It's alright, I forgive you. I know you're going through a tough time right now, with Roza gone and everything, but I'll always be here if you need someone to talk to, even if I can't give you all the answers." She paused. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok, see you in the morning." He replied, as they parted ways. He made his way over to Ivashkov's room knocking urgently on the door.

He could make out some muffled noises and quite possibly some colourful words being used, as at last the door swung open to reveal a ruffled and haggard looking Adrian. It seemed that the Rose case wasn't doing him much good either.

"Belikov." He greeted with a terse nod.

"Did you find anything?" he inquired.

"Not really. Well, I was rummaging through her room when she barged in and mind you, she was quite frustrated and angry. She screamed something along the lines of 'What the hell have I done?' and chucked pillows at the wall, then she realised the top drawer of her bedside table was open but she left it alone, probably thought she'd left it open by acc—" he cut off, noting the skeptic look Dimitri was throwing his way.

"What? I didn't have time ok? She just crashed in, I only just had the time to duck under the bed!" he exclaimed in a defensive manner. It wasn't really of much importance, so he waved his hand, signalling for him to continue.

"Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, well she dismissed the thought and went and took a shower. She's smart and dangerous so I didn't dare stay any longer and rushed out of the room. So in short, I didn't really find anything." He let out a massive huff of frustration.

"That's all? Nothing out of place? No secret box of stuff or more spirit charmed objects or anything?"

"Well, there might have been, I just didn't have the time to find them."

"Ugh! You're hopeless Ivashkov."

"Hey, at least I tried maybe you should go next time." he exclaimed, pretending to be offended.

"I think I will." he answered.

"How did things go with your sister?" Adrian asked.

"Well, she immediately knew something was up and told me spit it out. Apparently, my family back in Russia had met and provided accommodation for the Marie back before she started this school and was strigoi hunting. Once she decided she was going to start teaching, she offered spots for Paul and Vika and also payed for their tickets. Something's up though, Vika said it wasn't her place to tell and that if Marie wanted us to know she would let us know. According to her, that's just how matters are around here." He explained.

Silence followed his words.

"So what are we going to do now?" Adrian asked.

"Well, I suggest we get some sleep and continue this in the morning. I don't know about you but I really need some sleep." he replied in a resigned tone.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan."

And with that, he turned towards the door, but as his hand reached for the door knob, he was stopped short by the sound of Adrian's voice.

"Dimitri?" He thought it was perhaps the first time he had used his first name and not just 'Belikov'.

"Yes?" he replied, curious as to what he was going to say.

A pause followed his reply, until Adrian began again.

"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that we both love the same woman, I think you would actually be a decent guy."

Shock coursed through his entire being, at those words. He tried not to show it but he couldn't help the flicker of surprise that escaped through his eyes. Never, in his entire existence did he think Adrian Ivashkov would ever say those words. He was too shocked to voice his reply and merely gave an appreciative nod in return.

And just like that, the bubble of kindness popped and the characteristic smirk was back on his face. Dimitri opened the door and headed back to his room, flopping onto his bed. He turned off his lamp as his room was cast into a cavern of darkness. It was only then that he was able to form a reply.

"_Me too, Adrian. Me too."_

* * *

><p><strong>Awww, how sweet! How was that chapter? What do you think will happen next? <strong>

**I will try and update soon, no guarantees though! xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	16. Uncertainty

**Longest chapter yet! Enjoy! xo**

**~Angeliqa**

* * *

><p>RPOV<p>

_She felt his lips grazing her pale neck, as they touched with heat and passion. She loved him, she loved Christian so much —_

_Christian?_

_Oh no. No, it's not you —get out. _She thought.

_You aren't her, this isn't you, get out._

_His lips were all she could focus on._

_It's not him. Get out…it's not Dimitri._

And that was all it took, to pull out of Lissa's head.

"Ugh, God." She muttered.

She was glad Lissa was happier, but seriously?

However her happiness affected Rose. She was glad that her best friend was no longer in danger from herself, however, she envied her. Despised the very fact that her life was pretty much perfect. She had a loving husband, supportive friends and everything else you could possibly ever need, yet she was left running from her past life, the consequences of a choice made based on love and loss.

She turned to her side again for what seemed like the umpteenth time that night, she agitated and restless and it had been three days since she revealed herself to Lissa. Having had enough, she got up and decided to go for a nice workout, it usually helped her on such nights.

As she unlocked the door and silently slipped out she couldn't help but remember all those times she had snuck out. She remembered the time she had been woken up by Lissa and Christian's sexual innuendoes back at the academy. Back then they had worked so hard to keep their love hidden from the public eye and she had snuck out, much in the same secretive manner as she was slipping out now.

She remembered she had been frustrated, that those two could do whatever they wanted. She recalled stating that the only present she wanted for her upcoming birthday was Dimitri. She had remembered thinking that keeping love buried was like keeping anger pent-up. It just ate you up inside until you wanted to scream or kick at something, and that's exactly how she felt at the moment.

It was funny how seemingly, nothing had changed, but really _everything_ had changed.

No, she wasn't angry at Lissa, she was angry at herself. Why wasn't she good enough for him? Maybe she should have given Dimitri more time to settle after all the strigoi business. His appearance had reawakened old feeling she had try to bury. She wanted to hate, loathe and despise his very existence, but by some universally sick joke she felt the complete opposite.

Recalling that he did not want her and had specifically told her that his love had faded, she ended that moment of emotional weakness as she ran out to the tracks and began her laps.

Yes. Lissa was happy, perhaps _too_ happy. Her mind was an exotic mess of joy and happiness at having found Rose and she hadn't been awfully good at covering it up…

_It was a secret meeting her and Lissa had set up beforehand. The two woman figured the library was the least used area of the school and that chances were, none of the investigation crew would be there. Oh, how wrong they were…_

_Rose had dashed towards their meeting place, when she realised she was going to be late. However, as she stalked into the library, she stopped short, bringing her feet to a complete halt. The doors banged shut behind her and Lissa and the Great Russian turned towards her. Dimitri gave a nod of acknowledgement and Lissa pleaded with her eyes for her to go over, but all Rose did was nod and pretended to go find a book off the shelves._

Of course Dimitri would be here._ She should not have been surprised with his love for westerns and quiet places, he probably came here to think and sort out something. She stealthily made her way over to the shelves near where the two were sitting and silently listened in to their conversation._

"_You seem…different, Princess."Dimitri observed._

"_Dimitri, I've told you, it's Lissa."_

"_Right. Sorry, it's kind of a habit." He replied sheepishly._

"_Huh, how exactly am I different?" _

"_Well, it's quite obvious actually, even I can see it and I'm neither your loving husband who can read you like a book nor Ivashkov with his spirit powers. You've been happier lately, very much so, ever since you got out of that hospital. May I ask why?"_

"_Oh…well…" Lissa was at a loss for words, until her princess skills kicked in. "Well, I guess I just feel close, I feel like we're finally going to find Rose. I suppose that's why I'm feeling so good."_

Nice._ Rose thought._

_A pained expression had flitted across his guardian mask at the mention of his former student, however was gone as quickly as it had appeared._

"_Of course. Do you really believe we're close this time?"_

"_Yes, I don't if it's the bond or something else but I can feel we're getting closer. Maybe as close as in this room." Shock flowed through the bond as Lissa realised what she had just said. Oh dear…_

"_In this room?" he questioned in a sceptic manner._

"_Ok, well maybe not. That was just to give you an idea of what I meant." She quickly, covered herself up._

"_Right." Was all he said._

_Liss grabbed her phone out, pretended she needed to be somewhere, and hurried out the door so she would not ruin this more than she already had. Having had enough, Rose grabbed a few books off the shelves and walked passed Dimitri's spot; however her books were knocked from her grasp and clattered loudly to the ground beneath as someone in a hurry rushed passed her. She cursed as she bent down to picked them up, but was beaten by none other than the Russian God himself._

"_Uh, thanks." She muttered as she swept out of the library. But not before she caught the curious glance Dimitri had thrown her way._

_It wasn't until much later that she realised she had grabbed books all on the topic of Rabbit Breeding'._

Sighing at the memory, she jogged inside and was met by the sight of a furious Russian, punching and beating the hell out of a bright red punching bag. Rose stood there, watching this machine-like angel power on. After what seemed like only seconds, Dimitri stopped and turned to grab a drink.

"Can't sleep as well I see." She said, as she made her presence known.

Startled he spun around, alert and ready. But before he could voice anything, she interrupted.

"Your hands." She said softly, staring and the elegant and bloody fingers that may have played the piano I another life.

"Here, I bandage them up for you." She offered.

She sat them down on the benches against the far wall and reached into her gym bag for the first aid kit, beginning the process of cleaning out the wound.

"Thank you. Uh, but I think I may have broken one of the punching bags." he admitted.

"That's alright, I do that l the time. But why exactly were you so angry?" Curiosity getting the better of her.

"I—"he stopped short, hesitating, unsure whether he could really trust 'Marie' or not. At last having decided a little information wouldn't do any harm, he continued.

"Honestly, I have no idea why I'm telling you this, but there's something about you that's familiar, that makes me comfortable and at home. But that's beside the point, I'm angry because of Rose." She curious but also confused now.

'You mean the one you're all searching for?" she asked for the sake of it.

"Yes, that one. I was once her mentor you know, I found her and brought her and the princess back after their escape from the academy. He was behind in classes and so I offered to give her extra training sessions. We fell in love during those training sessions, even though we both tried so hard to deny it, it wasn't appropriate. I mean, I was her teacher; she was only a student, not to mention we were both dhampirs."

"But in the end our love was too strong, we gave in. I even gave up the chance to have children for her, because I didn't want children if they weren't ours. Little Roza's and Dimitri's." Her heart fluttered as the nickname rolled off his tongue.

"Then tragedy struck." Oh no. She didn't want to relive this part, but she had to unless she wanted to give herself away.

"There was that massive massacre at St. Vladimir's. Do you remember it? News like that spreads fast." She could only give a small nod, gesturing for him to continue.

"Anyway, I was turned during that battle. We attacked the strigois that were hiding in a cave nearby to save the students and moroi that were captured. Unfortunately I didn't make it out."

"I remember every single victim I murdered in that horrid nightmare of a life. Stuck between two worlds, neither dead nor alive, immortal however without a trace of humanity. And then Roza dropped out of school, endangering her career as a guardian which she had always wanted and abandoned her best friend, just to free me from my undead state."

The words he had spoken had stirred up more memories. More memories of pain and hurt, of being torn from someone you love. But she was snapped back with his next words.

"She came to kill me, to free me, and what did I do? What exactly did I do?" his voice was rising in anger and fury. "I used her as my personal blood supply, my own blood whore." Silence weighed in the air, a heavy silence that carried both their memories of that horrible time. He the predator, her, the helpless victim.

"But my Roza was clever and managed to escape and finally stake me after quite an epic battle. However, the thing was that when she staked me, it missed my heart or maybe it didn't fully pierce it? I'm not sure, but the main point was, I didn't die. And so I spent the next few months stalking and sending creepy messages to her as she finished her guardian. I saw her trials and if my mind had been capable of positive emotions, it would have been full of pride and love."

_He had watched?_

"Though Roza was Roza, persistent and brilliant, never thinking about the consequences of her actions. She found a way to restore a strigoi back to its original state and Princess Vasilisa staked me with a spirit charmed stake. I returned to this dhampir state, wracked and overcome with the guilt of all my actions, all the things I had done as a strigoi. I was so upset about all those people I had murdered, but above all was what I done to the woman of my dreams."

"She told me she loved me, that she had forgiven me for everything, that she didn't hold anything against me but I pushed her away. I pushed her away for her own benefit, she deserved so much better than me. The worst thing was the expression on her face, as I told her 'Love fades. Mine has.'I had completely shattered her world, I had broken her heart it billions of tiny pieces and I regret it every day." Her heart gave a slight jolt as she saw a single crystalline drop of moisture leak out from his eye and glide down his beautiful face.

"I would give anything to go back to that day, to go back to when I was restored. I would do anything to change my actions, to take back those four words I didn't even mean, that were the result of buried guilt. I would give everything, to go back, and run into my Roza's arms and beg her to take me back. To cherish every moment with her like it was going to be our very last. I would give anything to have my Roza back…"he ended in a whisper, the tears flowing freely now.

Despite their extreme difference in height, Rose reached towards him and pulled him into a comforting embrace, holding him and stroking the hair she had missed so much.

"Hey, it will be alright. We will find Rose. We will." She murmured.

He looked down into her blue eyes, his warm brown ones reflecting sorrow and uncertainty. Those brown eyes trapped her in a hazy world of paradise, that clouded her overall sense with glowing, warm emotions and soon enough the lips of the two guardians had met each other, at first tender and soft as if uncertain but grew in passion and their breathing became laboured.

Suddenly, Rose was pushed away, roughly shoved towards the other end of the bench.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to — I mean, I can't do this, no, not to Rose. I don't know why that happened. There's something strange about you, something mysterious and unnerving that I can't put my finger on."

She only responded with a nod, too shocked by what she had just done.

Injured and disorientated Dimitri dashed out the door without a word of goodbye.

Closing the door on an equally confused Rose. The question was:

_Did he love her or not?_

* * *

><p><strong>*Shocked face* How was it?<strong>

**Now I would just like to ask, how should I solve this Adrian, Rose, Dimitri love triangle? I'd like to find Adrian a mate as this story will obviously end with a R&D pairing. So what do you suggest?**

**~Angeliqa**


	17. Deception

**So I know it's a sudden change, but I thought we might leave the R&D drama for a bit, just a small break, and focus a little on our Adrian. Hope you enjoy this!**

**~Angeliqa**

* * *

><p>VPOV<p>

She didn't like this.

Not one bit at all.

Every day it seems he got worse, he bottles up all his emotions, torturing himself to an agonized pulp of his former self. Glorious sunlight poured through the panes of glass that stood between Viktoria and the outside world. She sat slowly munching through mouthful after mouthful, staring out at the luxurious lawns outside the cafeteria.

Lies. Untrue statements.

Such falsehood, deception, such disregard to the truth was most definitely not in the nature of this sweet young girl who had once experienced the loss of her dear brother. However, she had been lucky. She had gained him back, the Lord had been so gracious and kind and she did not want to waste this miracle of a gift, she did not want to lie to her own brother.

The slight bounce of the seat jolted her away from her philosophical musings and she turned to find the woman herself.

Rose.

Seeing her there right in front of her, reminded her that she was doing all this for this very woman. This brave, courageous, selfless woman who had brought her dear brother back to their family. It was for her that she was committing these unholy, sinful actions of deception and deceit.

These past years had been tough on Rose, but through these times emerged the strong woman she was today. Viktoria only hoped she could be as altruistic and fearless as this woman who she considered as a loving sister. They had grown close, Viktoria had been her loyal confidant and Rose, Viktoria's and Rose despised the very fact that Vika was forced to lie to her own brother, for her sake, but it was necessary. It was essential.

"Hey." Rose greeted her.

"Hi, how are you holding up?" A gust of wind that huffed out from her plump lips lifted up a few strands of her red tresses.

"I've had better days." Something seemed to be holding her back. Rose wasn't telling her something.

"Talk." She commanded firmly. However, in that instant the doors to the cafeteria swung open and the gang of Rose's friends walked in.

"Come by my room tonight and I'll tell you." She quickly stood up, before questions could be asked and hurried out to the tracks for her daily run.

A sigh was let out as she stood from her place at the corner table and made her way over to get rid of her tray. However as she turned round the final corner to reach the gym where her first class would be, she found herself bumping into the tall frame of a moroi. She was so lost in the thoughts of the life around her that she was surprised by the sudden impact fell to the floor, her knees grazing the ground beneath.

"Ah, shit. Sorry about th—"she cut off as her eyes wondered up to the face of which the body belonged.

"Oh, it's you again." What was with this sick, twisted world? How was it not possible she couldn't stay away from this guy for one whole day! Just one was all she asked for.

She remembered the first time she had encountered him.

_Viktoria had been outside taking a quiet walk to free herself from the new arrivals and the drama that surrounded them. Spring was beginning to blossom, the animals waking up. She took a deep, calming breath of early spring air, her eyes drinking in the glorious images of nature and its beauty, her ears regarding the natural music around her with utmost scrutiny. Scents of warm honey and awakening perfume filtered through the air encasing her in a rich blanket of what could only be described as the aesthetic beauty of spring._

_In the distant a single figure stood. Expensive scarf fluttering in the crisp breeze, his stylishly messy hair being ruffled by the rough breeze. The perfect picture of the lone poet._

_Sensing her presence, he slowly spun around. His sparkling green eyes met her and it was as if a vacuum had been harshly shoved within her lungs, sucking and rapidly depleting the oxygen she had taken in beforehand._

_No._

_She barely knew the guy and she he had a big reputation for being a womaniser. Though she couldn't help remembering what Rose had told her that out of all the people she left behind, leaving Adrian had been one of her biggest regrets. She had said he didn't deserve her, that he needed better, that he would one day become a great man, he just needed the support and love of a single woman, but that Rose was not the one._

_Staring into those glinting emerald eyes, she could almost see that admirable, young man from Rose's description, strong and courageous, someone who could have a positive impact on the vampire world. And to think the catalyst would only be the support and love a single woman._

_But no. She resented his presence here at the academy. His presence signified the torment of a sister, the stirring of painful memories for a loved one. His presence was not welcome; his presence meant the coming of Rose's past, of trouble and conflict._

"_Hey, you're one of Marie's students right?" His voice was beautiful, melodious. _No Vika._ She mentally chastised herself._

_Her only response was a small nod._

"_What's wrong? You're glaring at me like I've just committed the worst possible crime."_

"_Well maybe if you stopped blowing that smoke in my face I wouldn't be glaring." She retorted, she had meant the words to be playful, an attempt to lighten up the awkward situation, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. His face registered shock and was immediately replaced by hurt and sorrow._

"_What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" She asked, she couldn't help the protectiveness that suddenly overcame her, the need to comfort this man she had only heard about._

"_Nothing, it's alright. You just reminded me of the girl we came here to look for." His sadness quickly disappeared, followed by a jolt of recognition._

"_Hey, aren't you Belikov's sister?" _

"_Uh, yeah. I'm his younger sister."_

_And with those words of confirmation, his face transformed into a look of contempt. It was obvious he was struggling to put on a kind appearance but the aversion and disdain at the relationship to Dimitri could not be missed._

_The silence fell on the pair, until Viktoria excused herself and escaped, heading towards her room._

_So it was to be from the very beginning. Viktoria, despised him, for his presence announced the company of many unwanted visitors and he despised her for her relationship to the one man who had captured the heart of the woman he loved. A conflict of circumstances._

Since that day, she had been met with encounter after encounter of Adrian Ivashkov attitude and met with countless glares as well as an occasional comment here and there, not of the positive kind.

She was pushed back into the present by the teasing attitude of the moroi standing above her.

"I wonder what Marie or your great guardian brother would think if they were to know you just got knocked to the ground by a moroi." He mused, offering a thin but strong hand to help her up.

"Shut up, I was distracted." She replied in a defensive manner and got to her feet, rejecting the helping hand. He merely shrugged and tucked it into the pocket of his grey jeans.

"Sure…" he replied in a mockingly unbelieving tone.

She wished she could say something smart, anything, maybe something that Rose would say. God, Rose always had something witty to say in any situation, but she was rendered speechless by the serious gaze that was directed her way and before she could voice anything, he cut in.

"Hey look, I'm sorry for crashing into you and knocking you to the ground." He paused to consider something and then continued. "I haven't exactly been very nice to you since I got here, it's kind of because of the relationship I have with your brother. We don't get along too well. But, having said that, that business has got nothing to do between you and me, you haven't done anything to me and I guess well, I'm sorry." He finished.

She stared at him for a moment, taking in the sincerity of his words before finally responding.

"Ok, I accept you apology. How about we start over again? Hi, I'm Viktoria, delighted to make your acquaintance."

Adrian burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter and her words were so ridiculous and his laugh so contagious that she couldn't help but join in.

"Ok, ok." She said as they both calmed down. "How about 'Hi, I'm Viktoria and you are…?'"

"Hello Viktoria, my name is Adrian."

It couldn't be helped and soon they were on the floor giggling their heads off. At last they cooled down, lying side by side next to each other in the middle of the corridor. Adrian was the first to get up and offered his hand to Viktoria who didn't refuse this time.

They both stood, gazing into the other's eye, lost to the world around them and before either of them knew it, and their lips had met in a moment of gentle passion. It was as if a haze of love had cloaked the minds of the pair, however the sound of a small cough broke them away from each other as they leaped back in alarm.

They both spun around in time to see the disappearance of a flash of red hair and the dying music of a tinkling laugh.

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><p><strong>So, did you like the pairing? I had more Adrian and Viktoria requests so it was the one I went with. Let me know how that chapter was!<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	18. True Love

**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't update last week, but I've been a bit busy. I hope you enjoy this chapter, but I may have made a few mistakes as I am watching "Little Women" whilst writing. Amazing movie and book, anyone read or seen it? xo**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>RPOV<p>

As she watched them from the shadows of the plain hallway, a jolt of excruciating pain and longing jabbed at her chest. Her beating, red heart once functioned to the soothing rhythm of another, the one man she had ever loved and will ever love. It had been shattered and broken, however time had healed the shards of broken love and adoration, leaving behind a dark scar that held all her pains and misfortunes that she had endured.

Their lips met in a moment of fiery, uncertain passion which intensified, and she was reminded of her own first kiss with the one man her heart belonged to. Under the influence of the lust charm, her lips had been heated and sparked at his touch. She was reminded of the stolen ones, the passionate, the lustful ones, and the joy that accompanied each.

She was angry with him, yes, that much was true, but no matter what she would always love him, always be longing for his presence, longing to be able to express it. And in her current circumstance she was in no such position to do so.

_Let me not to the marriage of true minds_

_Admit impediments. Love is not love_

_Which alters when it alteration finds,_

No. Even through all this time, this anger and pain, she loved him. Their love really was true and strong. Their love had never changed whether the other changed or not. It was clear no matter how much she changed her outer appearance, Dimitri would always find her, even if he didn't know it himself.

_Or bends with the remover to remove:_

It would never fade either, such love as this. Their love was too strong for such nonsense.

_O no! It is an ever-fixed mark__  
><em>_That looks on tempests and is never shaken;__  
><em>_It is the star to every wandering bark,__  
><em>_Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken._

Through storms of school rules, priorities and careers, strigoi transformations and good intentions with horrid outcomes, their love had survived.

_Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks__  
><em>_Within his bending sickle's compass come:__  
><em>_Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,__  
><em>_But bears it out even to the edge of doom._

True love like theirs, did not succumb to time's wrath despite time's power to destroy perfect looks and outward beauty. She would love till she left this world and even beyond that, beyond this reality she now endured.

No. She had decided as she gave a light cough and walked away, laughing at the light feeling in her chest. The weight that had been lifted with the decision.

The decision to reveal.

_If this be error and upon me proved,__  
><em>_I never writ, nor no man ever loved…_

__Three years was three years to long to be apart.

No more time should be wasted.

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><p><strong>SO SHORT! I know, but that's all I have time for, I don't know when I will be able to update again, maybe with more reviews I can write faster..? Haha, let me know what you think and maybe a few thoughts on that Shakespeare sonnet? It's one of my favourites! Xo<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	19. Confession

**So exams and stuff, you get the drift. Good news is that this is the last week of school for the year, so after this week, I should be able to update more often and perhaps finish the story! Yay! So here's the next chapter. **

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>LPOV<p>

I was in paradise.

Well almost.

She felt as light as ever as Christian's hands pulled through her shining blonde hair, silence enveloping them in a comfortable embrace of peace and understanding. This familiar silence that seemed to speak words to them, this heavenly silence of mutual love. They were free, no limits or boundaries, no rules such as those of the Court.

If only there wasn't Rose.

Rose. She internally sighed. She didn't know how much longer she could keep up this lying façade, this illusion of being just the same Lissa as before she found Rose again. She glanced upward from her place on Christian's chest, to see those captivating ice blue eyes full of concern.

"Lissa, what's wrong?" She realised that she must have sighed aloud.

"Nothing. Why?"

"Liss, you just sighed as if something's really bugging you."

"I—I was just sighing because it feels good being here with you. I mean we haven't had much time together with all this Rose business going on." She regretted mentioning Rose, as she saw Christian flinch slightly at her name and another wave of guilt drowned her as she thought of the secret she was hiding.

"Right..." he replied, not entirely convinced.

Once again silence enveloped the couple; however this time it suffocated her with tension and frustration. It was so amazingly difficult keeping all this hidden from everyone, especially from Christian. He was her soul mate and she felt worthless being in his presence when she was lying to him right to his face.

"I'm not stupid Liss." He said lazily as she froze and tensed up. No doubt he could feel the sudden change in her posture.

"I know you're hiding something from me and I intend to get it out of you, no matter what it takes." He continues, a sneaky tone slipping into the end of the sentence.

Suddenly she was attacked by the fierce movement of his lips against hers and she was caught up in a flurry of emotions and drama. She knew that if she didn't stop this now she would end up blurting out everything on her mind and as much as she wished she could just lie in bed and kiss Christian all day, she couldn't. So she pushed him away and walked out of the room, grabbed some clothes and hurried into the shower.

Turning her back towards the door, she leaned her back against it and slowly slid down until she was crouched on the cool tiled floor.

"Liss! Open up! Come on. I didn't mean to upset you. Please, Liss, let me in!"

His muffled cry came slowly drifting into her ears, and the vibrations of his fist against the door quivered and rippled along her back. She got up off the floor and hopped into the showers, the warm water and steam calmed her down a bit as her mind reordered itself.

No matter how much Rose wanted her to keep this secret, she just couldn't. It was literally killing her inside to lie to her friends and she needed to get this out whether Rose like it or not. She stepped out of the shower, clear drops of moisture clinging to her pale skin. Drying herself up, she began to get dressed and put on her make-up. She may not need to tell everyone, just Christian would do. Yes, she just needed to feel as if she was not the only one carrying this burden.

From the other side of the door she could hear the sounds of multiple voices.

"Vasilisa, we will be forced to break down this door if you do not reveal yourself right this second. " Rose's voice drifted through the cracks of the doors.

"Li—" She swung the door open, to reveal a overly concerned Christian as well as Rose or Marie in this instance in all her fierceness and dangerous beauty.

Immediately, she was locked in a strong embrace.

"Liss, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you I just don't like it when you keep things from me. I feel you cannot trust me and I wonder what else you may not be telling me and—"

"Shhh…"she cut him off his ramble, holding him whilst looking at Rose over his shoulder.

"Believe me, it isn't easy to keep things from you, I wish I didn't have to. But trust me when I say it isn't my secret to tell."

"Please Liss, I need to know."

Silence fell upon them as she glanced at Rose. A thousand emotions and memories passed between them with that glance, as was their way for a long time. Their sisterly bond had strengthened over so many life changing events and landmarks in their lives, so many years, so many memories.

After what seemed like years, Rose gave her a slight bob of the head, so slight it was almost imperceptible. Even with her enhanced moroi senses, she only _just_ make it out.

With that, she vanished so silently and quickly it was unnatural.

"Liss?" Christian's questioning tone broke through her thoughts.

And with a sigh, she led him to their bed and began the momentous explanation.

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><p><strong>Likeys? Haha, please review and tell me what you thought. <strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	20. Uncovering

DPOV

He runs. Sprints towards the calling of fresh air and the crisp night atmosphere, yearning for some peace of mind.

The mangled branches of trees silhouette against the shimmering fabric above. The luminous moon, full and round, floats in the cloudy seas.

Quiet. The sun is climbing now. His legs stiff.

Perhaps he was an old man bound from freedom by the leashes of rusty limbs and failing organs, living a nightmare of pain and heartache. Or perhaps he was merely a ripe, young man in his twenties, caged in the limited body of an elderly citizen. Miserable and lonely.

A student, once upon a time, his secret girlfriend, if you will, his companion.

His soul mate.

He felt so close, yet so far away. It was amazingly frustrating.

Yet there was still the ever present matter of Marie.

Strong, independent Marie. Was it possible he was finally, truly getting over Rose? Was it possible that her long absence from his life was finally allowing him to move on? No. Of course not, love like theirs did not tarnish or wear out over time and absence. It was long, lasting, forever embedded to both their minds, bodies and souls. Engraved to their very essence.

Marie was so much like the woman he had lost and maybe that was why he had kissed her in that gym. Maybe it was him, trying to hold on to something, anything, that even remotely resembled Rose. Yes. That was it, he was certain of it now.

_Marie… Rose…_

_Rosemarie._

Could it be? Could this mystery woman quite possibly be the one woman he had been endlessly for these past three years?

His posture stiffened in sudden shock, as those three names ricocheted around his stunned brain. Rose. Marie. Rosemarie. It made sense with all that weird behaviour coming from her and he had found a lot of the lessons she taught quite familiar.

Yes, he could see it. Rose would have wanted to disappear after that incident at Court, but she would have never given up what she loved, what she was best at. Being a Guardian. That would have been how Vika and Paul got here. From the little information he knew, she had already met his family and were quite close to them so it would only make sense if she allowed them free tuition.

In an instant, he was on his feet, surroundings forgotten. The musical chirp of the birds' song, so soothing to him only moments before, the sensation of the energy radiating from the golden eye of the sun warming his bare, frosty arms. Forgotten. All forgotten, as he wound his way through plain passages, back towards his room where he changed into fresh clothes, and noted that Marie's class would begin soon so her room would be vacant.

He hurried out the door, towards Marie's quarters as a brown bird perched on a thin branch just beyond the cool glass of the windows.

RPOV

Dimitri. She needed to find him. Perhaps just this once she would sacrifice her classes for her personal issues. After all, this was fairly important. Just this once, one time only. Before long, she found her feet carrying her up and towards the second floor of guest housing.

She sprinted towards the second door to the left where she hoped to find Dimitri, maybe reading one of those pointless western novels. A small smile crept onto to her face as she thought of Dimitri and his odd habits, merely another quirk that added to the overall Dimitri-ness.

She reached the pale white paint of the heavy door and knocked a couple of times just as a brown bird flew from its resting place beyond the windows, however there was no answer. She could still faintly pick out the scent of his aftershave mingling with the air in the hallway. She must have missed him by only a minute or so.

Sighing, she sank to the floor, her back pressed against the cool surface of the door. From the room opposite her, she could hear Christian shouting. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

She quickly got up off the ground and rushed into their room without knocking, to find a distraught Christian banging and bashing against the bathroom door.

"I heard you shouting from outside, what's going on?"

Christian gave a sudden jolt of surprise and stepped back from the door.

"Have you not ever heard of privacy? You can't just rush in to people's rooms, you know."

"Well, you can't afford to respect others privacy when you hear banging and shouting and assume something is not quite right. Now what is wrong?" she demanded.

"I—I said something to Liss and she just got all upset and locked herself in there." He replied, gesturing to the unmoving door.

"Let me try." She said quietly, before addressing Lissa.

"Vasilisa, we will be forced to break down this door if you do not reveal yourself right this second." Nothing.

"Li—"she began, but was interrupted by the sudden movement of the door swinging open.

As soon as she appeared, she was engulfed by Christian and one of his apologetic rambles. But Liss soon cut him off with a quick

"Shhh…"

"Please Liss, I need to know."

Silence.

Lissa caught her eye, locking her in a gaze filled with pleading. Pleading for her to be able to reveal the big secret. The secret about who 'Marie' truly was. It was silent, before she gave the slightest nod of permission and stalked straight out of the room.

Once free, she rushed down to the gym, hoping to see Dimitri there. Perhaps training or working out. But hope lead to disappointment as she was met by a crowd of faces, none of them matching the very one she wanted to see the most. Only a bunch of young students ready for her to teach.

She was distracted for most of the lesson, not quite there most of the time. The hands of the clock seemed to tick agonisingly slowly, dragging out the minutes of her torture before she was free from her classes. At last, she could not stand it and dismissed the class early, to which they all found extremely confusing. Not that any of them didn't want to finish early; it was just that the headmistress was usually so strict about training, they could not understand the reason behind her early dismissal.

She needed to find Dimitri. But firstly, she needed to change and have a shower. Walking up to her room, her mind was consumed by thoughts of her former mentor.

She sensed him before she actually saw him. His scent perfumed the air around her, drowning her in pleasure. The door to her bedroom lay open, a slight crack formed between the door and the frame. She eagerly pushed the bedroom door back, to see Dimitri sitting on her bed, a necklace grasped within his large, elegant hands.

_The _necklace.

The lust charm.

There was no hiding now.

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><p><strong>Bit longer, so sorry about that last one. Hope you enjoyed that. Review! xo<strong>

**~Angeliqa**


	21. So Close!

**Well… sorry…? Haha, get reading! And please pay attention to my A/N at the end. It's important! xo**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>DPOV<p>

Stealth.

The door was easy to open and he slipped in quietly without drawing any attention. He entered the apartment, surprised to find everything all neat and tidy. Doubt began to creep into his mind as he thought back to Rose's messy habits.

_Maybe Marie isn't Rose, maybe this all a mistake. Rose was never this clean and tidy, perhaps I should turn back._

But no. There was always the possibility that she had changed. _Sure, people can change._ He thought, trying to reassure himself.

He stepped into the lounge room. A shining black television sat meditating against the far wall, swallowing my reflection, reflecting my tall frame faithfully. His eyes scoped out the room like every other time, however this was different. He was not searching for a sign of danger, no strigoi or threats.

Nothing. Only plain walls, photos of Marie and her students, of the school when it first opened and just the usual furniture. He let out a sigh. He had hoped it would not come to this, that he could find something noteworthy just by the objects in this area of the apartment, but apparently that was not possible. He retreated out of the room and made his way towards the one place which was bound to contain objects that would satisfy his needs, the one place private enough to hold secrets.

The door creaked as he pushed it open; he cringed as the sound reached his ears. Even though it wasn't likely anyone could hear it he'd prefer there being no sound whatsoever during his investigation.

_So this was where Adrian had almost been caught._

This room unlike all others in the household was more decorated and messy, much more like the Rose he knew, if his suspicions proved to be true. Tank tops and track pants, runners and shorts were strewn across the spacious area, covering the immediate floor capacity around her bed and mirror.

_Were these all the clothes that this woman owned?_

He started with the closet hoping to find some secret shoebox tucked away in a corner or perhaps in a large coat, but he was disappointed. There was nothing in there but some more workout clothes, some formal wear as well as the typical guardian attire of black and white.

He made his way towards the open door of the bathroom, the pristine white tiles, somewhat blinding to his eyes at first as he searched the paraphernalia dumped in front of the mirror.

Nothing.

Frustration was beginning to leak onto his stone guardian mask and dominate his mid, as his body began tremble with anger. He needed to find her and tell her how much he loved him. Perhaps it was truly Rose and she had just hidden herself well, or more likely, this seemed like the biggest lead they'd had since the search began and he was clinging to it with all he had. In short, he was becoming desperate.

He turned to head back towards the bedroom, but as he did so, he heard an object come clattering down behind him. Lip gloss.

The packaging pulled him into memories of more trouble free times, back to when he and Rose had been training. A small smile adorned his features as he remembered the then immature Rose complaining over having no more lip gloss. So beautiful and so much trouble. She thought he hadn't been paying attention to her complaints was entirely shocked when he bought her a new one after her accident on the way back from the mall.

He was becoming more and more certain that Marie was in fact Rose, but he needed one more bit of evidence, something solid and hard that would confirm everything.

As he stepped back through to the bedroom, a glint of gold caught his eye. A chain slunk its way through the creases of the bed sheets, a stream of gold among soft, white plains, shimmering and reflecting the light of the sun. His feet glided across the floor without the command of his pain-filled brain, controlled by the sight of the object itself.

His fingers met with the cool, hard surface of the necklace and as he lifted it up, dangling the delicate trinket from the tip of his long, calloused finger his mind left his body and flew to the depths of another night, another memory.

_Hair long and damp hung and framed his face as he stepped out of the shower. Drying it off he slipped on a pair of cotton pajama bottoms and laid down, hands behind his head. He couldn't get her out of his mind. Her beautiful face, her long luscious hair and that fiery and strong attitude that filled up whole spaces, dragging everyone's attention towards this beautiful being._

_Seemingly, his thoughts were answered as an urgent knock was heard. Curiosity overwhelming him he reached over and pulled off the covers padding towards the door. The door swung open to reveal his goddess in that sexy black dress, him forgetting he was half naked._

"_Rose?" he had said, surprise probably written all over his face._

"_Let me in. It's Lissa."_

_With that, he let her in. Silence enveloped them. She had a strange expression about her, her eyes fixed on my chest. He knew he looked good and as much as he liked that look her face, these were not the correct circumstances._

"_What's wrong?" he asked._

_His voice seemed to have ignited something within her as she looked up eyes full need, want, _lust._ Then in an instant her lips were aiming for his chest._

"_Rose!" he exclaimed, jumping back in shock. "What are you doing?" Good lord, she was her student, no, he was not to think of her in that manner._

"_What do you think?" she answered._

_Once again, she attempted to move towards him, in need of his touch._

"_Are you drunk?" he asked, trying to keep her away, as tempting as the situation was._

"_Don't I wish. I thought you wanted to—don't you think I'm pretty?" Her lips slipping into a small pout. _Oh, I think you're pretty alright. Far too pretty for your own good.

"_Rose, I don't know what's going on, but you need to get back to your room." He said sternly._

_She moved towards him once more, this time, he gripped her wrists in an attempt to keep her away from him. Something was not right. _

_What happened next was a complete blur of hidden desire and lust coming out to play. A blur of longing and love, kisses and naked skin. _

"_Roza—_

He was jolted away from the memory by the sound of a voice. _Her voice._ How had he never realised it? It sounded so familiar, he should have put it together the moment he met her in that dark alleyway.

"Dimitri?"

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><p>RPOV<p>

Shock present in every aspect of her features, she let her guard down. For once in so many years the true Marie was seen, a portion of this woman was glimpsed, no longer tucked away in a drawer, locked within a safe.

His head swerved towards the sound of her voice, his eyes no longer hazy with the cloud of memories and experiences.

"How did you get in here? Who gave you permission to wander into my home, let alone go rummaging through my personal belongings?" her voice rose in volume.

Her eyes glanced down and caught the flash of gold. She instantly knew what it was that lay within those skilled hands. Anger flared up within her, whether from the darkness or something else, she knew not. Despite the fact that she was already going to reveal herself, he had absolutely no right to come barging in searching for answers. Privacy was to be respected.

She stormed over, snatching the chain away from his hands with so much force and anger that a red mark immediately flashed against his skin. Turning around she headed towards her bedside table.

"Roza."

She halted.

Anger and fury dissipating as the music of her name reached her ears. Silence met her name.

"It's really you isn't it?" No sound. No movement.

"Rose, turn around. Please." Nothing. She stood, not knowing what she was doing.

She hadn't heard him get up from the bed or move, but there he was. Right in front of her were his beautiful brown eyes staring intently into her blank blue ones, full of love and relief.

"Rose, say something."

Now that he was right in front of her, pleading for her to make a sound, she wasn't so sure. Uncertainty and nervousness crept through her mind. She needed time. Just a bit more to clear her mind of doubts and to be one hundred percent certain she was going to do this. After all, she had a whole school to think about. How was the return of her past going to impact on her future? Would she return to court with Liss and the others? Or will she leave them and continue to run this school?

She couldn't stand in this room any longer. Thoughts racing and pounding at her head, she sprinted away, from her room, sprinted away from Dimitri. _Again._

She ran to the one place where she would go when she felt she was on the verge of collapsing, of giving up. She'd had it built a while ago. A small cabin beside the pond, a small link to the meaningful place back at St. Vlad's. Here she felt calm, here she felt she could let loose and let her emotions fly.

Tucking herself in the farthest corner from the door, she let the eager tears stream down her face, her eyes transforming to the appearance of puffy redness that often accompanied tears of this sort.

She had frozen.

Frozen and let the strigoi's of emotions and fears take over and feed off of her. Once again, leaving the lifeless corpse of grief and sorrow clatter to the cold, unforgiving ground. What was she to do?

_Could she truly forgive Dimitri?_

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><p><strong>I BEG YOU NOT TO KILL ME! Sorry! That was pretty much just a filler chapter, but I hope it was interesting and satisfied your Rose-Dimitri needs for a while. <strong>

**Ok, so I need your opinion. If you could please spare some time and go to my profile and vote on the future of this plot that would be great! I just want to know if guys would like this story to end soon with Rose and Dimitri making up, or perhaps drag it on a little longer with a bit more drama. E.g. Tasha dropping by…etc. stuff like that. **

**Oh and it wouldn't be a chapter without this: REVIEW, REVIEW, and REVIEW! **

**Haha, hope you enjoyed that! xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	22. Return

**Lalalalala… READ!**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>CPOV<p>

It was as if there was a barrier.

A barrier within his brain. A barrier made of the strongest material, neither steel nor a material of strength or resistance, but perhaps a mental cloth preventing thoughts or anything from entering or any emotion or feeling to escape.

He was stuck.

Stuck in a world empty of human (or vampire) processes or events. He could see, yes, that much was certain. He could see the beautiful being that was his lovely wife, perched delicately before him. He could see the flash of her glamorous, golden hair glinting in the light that filtered through. He could see the shimmer in her eyes. Eyes that were so compassionate and full of life, that inspired him to be the best person he could possibly be, the drove on his perpetual love for her.

He could see the tiny, sparkling drop of a tears snake its way down her pink cheeks from its natural spring of puffy, red eyes. A small drop of moisture that conveyed so much sorrow and concern.

And that was all it took.

All it took to break him away and out of his haze. The dam had broken, and a gush of realisation poured forth, releasing him from his state of shock. He was finally able to register enquiries filled to the brim with worry. The plugs been taken out of his ears and the sudden cacophony of volume raised him out of the mental jail he had been caged within.

"Christian? Can you hear me?"

"I – I can't believe this…" he trailed off, not sure what should be said.

"Christian, please don't be angry. I was sworn to keep this to myself. You don't understand how…how horrid I feel at the moment." She looked up into his cool, blue eyes.

"I've just betrayed Rose by telling you this." Her voice was a mere whisper now, almost imperceptible, no louder than the soft breeze fluttering outside.

He had no energy to voice his thoughts, no energy to take action for he was uncertain as to what should be done. All he could manage or bring himself to do was drape a heavy arm around Lissa's shoulders in a failed attempt to lessen the shock of the situation.

However, underneath this momentary pain of betrayal as well as shock, there was a small flare of hope. The spark of positivity that he believed would ignite a raging fire of the bright future that he, along with everyone else had hoped for.

It was time to put the past to rest, bury it and continue and continue living. Time to open up another door.

Hope fully this time nothing goes wrong.

DPOV

She was still.

A beautiful sculpture of flaming hair, with jewels of sapphire gazing out blankly, embedded within that emotionless face. However despite the unresponsiveness of her body, he knew she was struggling.

Struggling to contain that her inner thoughts and feelings.

He was on the verge of opening his mouth once more, when that breath taking sculpture came to life right before him and escaped, dashing out of the room within the space of a blink. Hands clenched into fists at his side, he allowed a groan to escape from his lips.

She had slipped through his fingers again. A flopping and slippery fish or some liquid substance that did not possess the ability to hold its own form.

There was only one thing to be done.

Instantly, his feet carried his large frame towards the door. His feet pounding the surface of the floor in an attempt to reach Rose. He needed to get to her, he needed her to admit to his face, to really hear her confirm that Marie was Rose.

To really hear that he had found his true love at last.

After these years of absence, it was amazingly difficult to believe that this might be her. There was still doubt in his mind, despite all the evidence he had found. He burst through the doors into the open air and hesitated pausing to observe his surroundings. Immediately, his eyes fell on the small cabin-like structure that squat beside the pond in which Lissa had been found unconscious.

During his stay at the Institute, he had often come to this very place. It reminded him of his good times with Rose, before everything, his life, the people around him, were plunged into chaos. Especially that night before the attack, that night in the cabin.

"Belikov!"

Alarmed and instantly on alert, he spun around to face the owner of the voice, but relaxed instantly when he saw who the speaker was.

Castile.

He gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"Have you seen Liss or Christian? I knocked on their door before but no one answered."

"Sorry, but I haven't seen them at all today." He replied, itching to get away.

"Well…" Eddie began talking about something that he didn't quite catch. His mind was filled with thoughts of Rose and his kept eyes wandering towards the cabin.

"Hey Dimitri," Eddie called, "you okay? You seem distracted." as he shuffled from foot to foot restlessly.

"Yeah I…" he trailed off; he couldn't stand there any longer.

"Just give me a second."

He sprinted off towards the pond, leaving Eddie behind staring off at him in confusion.

If this was Rose, he knew for certain she would come to this cabin.

Taking a deep breath of air, he twisted the door knob and entered.

RPOV

Voices.

Muffled sound waves flowed through the open window of the cabin. Her tears halted as curiosity took over and she found herself crouched at the door, peaking through the crack she had allowed to form.

It was Eddie and Dimitri.

She saw the giant figure of the Russian turn, sprinting towards the cabin.

_Shit. He's seen me._

Jumping up from where she hid, she frantically looked around for somewhere to hide or some way of disappearing. She couldn't face him at the moment.

Her eyes latched onto the window. Without wasting a single moment, her hands found the ledge as vaulted of the window sill and landed silently on the soft carpet of grass outside. As quickly and noiselessly as she could manage, her hand slipped up to slide the window back in place, just as her ears picked up the squeak of the twisting door knob.

She lay down under the window, hoping Dimitri hadn't heard anything and that he would soon disappear back to the main buildings, back to his room.

She held her breath as she sensed the heavy footsteps of the man within the cabin, heard the sigh of frustration as he witnessed another fail in his search for her. A thundering crash was heard and she felt the vibrations trembling through the walls as he slammed the cabin door, hearing his beautiful voice as he cursed loudly in Russian whilst he stormed away.

Away from her.

As soon as she deemed it safe, she raced back towards her apartment, snatched her keys and some money from their places and headed away and out of the Institute, towards the towns in search the closest hair salon.

No more hiding.

No more secrets.

Rosemarie Hathaway was making a return.

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><p><strong>OMG! Next chapter Rose shall reveal herself! Yay! As for her love life…well, you'll have to wait and see. I truly hope you enjoyed that, look out for the next chapter, it's going to be action-packed. <strong>

**REVIEW and REVIEW! xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	23. AND IT'S OUT!

**OH YEAH! Christmas Eve update, because I'm cool like that. Haha, but yeah, go read this then review. Bye! **

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>RPOV<p>

Standing before the strong, iron gates of the Institute, she pulled the hood of her jacket over her head, covering her newly dyed brown strands, tightening the cords to hide her hair from view. Brown eyes set in her delicate face; she took a step towards the school, hoping no one would see her.

The sun was emerging now. She had stayed out the whole night, at last reluctantly returning to the place where figures of her past waited. She was Rose Hathaway now and nothing was to stop her from overcoming this challenge and fighting her way through this pain. She would reveal herself, show them she wasn't afraid. She would come out of this problem the true Rose Hathaway style, no hiding; after all she had gained a prestigious school and earned her status as a renowned headmistress. Just under another name, that was all…

She would call a group meeting this morning, nothing too suspicious, perhaps they might think it was to do with the lead on finding her. She would go in, in her usual manner with her hood up so no one would suspect anything and when the time was right, well, she would show them who she truly was.

She snuck through one of the more unused passages and crept towards her apartment, but she was awfully preoccupied with her current planning so as she rounded the corner, she banged right into something very hard, something that felt to her like a steel covering, or perhaps a solid brick wall. Stumbling back in apparent surprise, she managed to steady herself before crashing onto the floor beneath.

However, the sudden impact had forcefully pushed the hood off her head, uncovering a shock of dark brown hair that was close to being black. She froze as she saw who exactly she had crashed into, momentarily forgetting about the disaster of her uncovered hair. Eyes widening as she took in the figure she knew there was absolutely no escape whatsoever now.

Yep. It was none other than the Russian God himself.

Dimitri Belikov.

A moment of silence followed before a flustered Rose picked herself up off the ground and attempted to push her way past him, which was a failed attempt from the beginning given the narrow hallway and his bulky frame. He merely stepped to the side blocking Rose's path as she tried numerous times to get through.

If circumstances were disregarded, it may have seemed to an outsider, a mere dance of elegance and intricacy. Becoming exhausted, Rose stopped and stood still. Heaving an obnoxious sigh of frustration, she decided to try the only tactic left.

Dimitri still shocked over Rose's sudden appearance was oblivious to her thoughts and her plans for him next. Silently, she drew her leg back and kicked with full force at—

"Ahhh!"

…well, you get the picture…

Chuckling, she sidestepped a Russian in evident agony, and continued her walk back to her apartment without another word or a single glance back at the man writhing on the floor in pain.

LPOV

Nervous.

That's how she felt as she carefully put the phone down.

"Who was that?" Eddie asked from across the room.

"Th—That was uh, Marie. She wants all of us down in her office in half an hour."

"What? Why?" Adrian.

"Uh…I don't know, that's all she said." She replied, earning a questioning look from everyone but Christian.

"Where's Belikov?" Adrian asked.

A jolt of realisation pulsed through her, as well as those around her as all of them looked around the room at each other in search of Dimitri.

"I saw him last night. He came crashing through those front doors as I was about to head in. I started talking to him, but he seemed awfully distracted and ended up cutting me off and sprinting towards that cabin out there." Eddie answered.

"Funny. He's always up running laps before any of us is awake."

A sudden sound was heard, as the door swung open exposing a red faced Russian.

"Where have you been? Are you alright?" She couldn't help it as her mouth spat out a series of questions.

"I, uh—"he started, cowering under the heavy gazes.

"Oh! We need to get down to Marie's office now, before we're late!" Lissa screamed as she glanced at the time.

"Umm…that's the thing…"

"Hurry up Dimitri! No time, Marie called us all down to her office for a meeting which begins in about a minute."

"But—"He was cut off as Lissa shoved him out the door. He couldn't do anything but silently tag along as they all made their way towards the little door beside the gym.

She knocked on the clear glass pane and was greeted by Laura.

"Please, come in a take a seat, the headmistress has been expecting you." She said with the kindest of smiles.

They all filed in silently, the guardians standing near the walls, alert and ready.

Marie or more appropriately Rose now, stood with her back towards them, staring out the window. They both took a big calming breath together, as best friends and as sisters. Whatever happened next, they would face together, and she was not going to leave her now.

RPOV

She sensed them all come in and sit in their seats, the guardians standing along the walls. Honestly, she did not know how to proceed as she let the silence fill the space between them.

"Whoa! Marie, your aura's…dark. Black and dark. Are you alright?" She mentally sighed. Trust. But all she did was answer him in a cool voice.

_Better get this show on the road._ She thought reluctantly.

"And can you think of a reason why?" She answered, prompting him and the others to delve further into the situation.

Puzzled silence followed her question. Or what seemed like puzzled silence seeing as half of them already knew the truth.

"Ok, I give up. Just tell us." Eddie said.

Silence.

"Pretty please…!" It was Mia.

With a loud sigh, she slowly drew back her hood and faced the shocked audience. Well, half of it.

She managed to give them a small smile, whilst not revealing even tiniest flicker of emotion.

"R-Rose?" Adrian asked uncertainly.

"No Adrian, I'm a pink, glittering pony." Sarcasm soaked through my words as everyone else in the room chuckled.

"Rose!" Mia screeched as she was almost, _almost_ bulldozed over by the moroi.

"Slow down Mia. Try not to damage the precious glittering pony. It's not nice." She shot me a mock glare.

"Shut up Rose! What. The. Hell. Why have you been hiding from us? Why didn't you tell us that you were Marie? Why wait till now to—"

"I wasn't ready."

"What? But why—"she continued.

"Look, you know where I am now, the past doesn't matter anymore. At least you know I'm safe and well, so can we just drop it?" her voice firm.

"But Rose, you're our friend. A friend who just suddenly left us all those years ago, without a note or hint as to where you were going, I think you at least owe _me_ an explanation."

He was right. Eddie had been nothing but a perfect friend to her, nothing but the loyal companion. He had always treated her with brotherly love, had protected her when she most needed it and had supported me with every one of my crazy plans, based on loyalty and trust rather than logic.

She sighed. No matter what, she owed Eddie an explanation. No, she owed Eddie much more than a simple explanation.

"Ok, I will tell you my reasons, but not at the moment. I have class to get to, so how about we all get together tonight and have a catch up session?"

There were murmurs of alright's and nods of assent.

'Cool. So it's my place tonight at 7. Now shoo! I have a class to teach." She waved her arms towards the door, signalling for them to get out. Unfortunately, she had Bodyguard Theory first up, so she turned around to collect the appropriate paperwork.

However, as she was ruffling through the paper she felt a strong arm grip her shoulder and force her to turn around.

It was Dimitri.

"What about us?" he asked softly.

'What _about_ us?" Suddenly becoming very irritated.

"After what we've been through don't—"

She couldn't take it anymore. She knew it was coming and she wasn't sure if it was the right time, but she needed to let this out. She needed to let out the pain and agony she had endured, the heartbreak, the broken trust and faith. She needed to throw every stab of pain, every tear of sorrow she had shed for him.

She wanted, no, _needed_ him to feel just as she had because no matter what, they could never love each other just as they had before as long as these feelings were not uncovered, as long as they stayed hidden. For their love to spread wings and fly, they needed to get everything out in the open.

Perhaps it was the darkness, or maybe it was just plain fury and everything she had endured, but whatever the origin, it did not prevent Rose from lashing out with her next comment.

"Well, well done _comrade_." she sneered, twisting his nickname around a verbal knife of bitterness.

"Bravo. Kudos for finding me!" she spat at him. She let her words hang in the air, manipulating the silence to convey her anger.

"Now what?" Silence.

"Do we kiss? Do I take you back? Pretend like none of this shit ever happened? No Love fades, mine has? We can run along now, play the happy couple. Can't we?" Her breath was becoming ragged and heavy, tears welling up in those dark, brown eyes.

"Roza —"

"Do _not_ call me that!" she screeched, temper flaring.

"You lost every scrap of right to that name that moment in the church. You hurt me beyond belief. "Love fade, mine has" Ring a bell? Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep? Can you even comprehend how much pain I was in? All because you!" She screamed.

"And now you expect me to take you back…"she whispered, finally letting the tears cascade down her cheeks. It was silent.

Wiping away the fallen drops of anger and sorrow, she put on some sunglasses to hide her eyes. She was too tired. She thought she might take the day off, it was nothing new, and she did it plenty of times after her late night strigoi hunts, so nothing would seem off.

She stepped out of her office, only to be met by a crowd of students staring horrified at her office door. As soon as they realised it was her, they hurriedly looked down, embarrassed and ashamed, like naughty little children being caught in the act of something that was forbidden. Running a hand through her long hair to calm herself down, she addressed the group of students.

"I will be taking the day off today and yes, you may all call me Rose now. They all know." She announced with authority.

Behind her, she heard the faint _click_ of her office door closing shut and sensed Dimitri trying to sneak out silently.

"Stay." She said to the retreating form, her voice strong and firm, ringing with power, a stark contrast to her manner only a few moments ago. Facing the students once again she began pleasantly, a barely innocent smile tacked in place.

"Instead, Guardian Belikov here will be teaching you your combat as well as bodyguard theory classes today."

With a smirk, she turned towards Dimitri and chucked the pile of papers into his unprepared hands, before strolling past him. As she walked past, she leaned in close to his ear.

"Have fun." She whispered, giving him her most seductive man-eater smile.

Well, if they were to get back together again, he would have to earn his place back into her life.

Starting with this.

As she made her way towards the door, she heard Dimitri curse in Russian.

"сука" he muttered.

The only difference now was that she understood what he was saying.

"Я слышал, что!" she sang back, chuckling as she walked out the door.

There was nothing to do now except prepare for tonight's catch up sessions well as plan through ways of torturing Dimitri of course.

See how much he could stand…

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><p><strong>OK, so translations were: <strong>

**Dimitri: "Bitch."**

**Rose: "I heard that!"**

**But…I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. The secret is out! Now, any ideas for this catch up session? Teehee, I'm thinking 'devious and evil' on Rose's part. S****o…**

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW AND GIVE ME YOUR IDEAS PLEASE! **

**I actually need help! **

**MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!**

**xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	24. Partay!

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages, between holiday season as well as having a few issues with the plot of this chapter I have been extremely slow. But I have made up for it in giving you all a chapter double the size of my usual ones, so I hope you enjoy! xo**

**~Angeliqa**

**Warning: I haven't proof read any of it!**

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><p>The light caught on the sapphire gem of the piece of jewellery as she bent over to straighten the gleaming silver of cutlery. In a few moments, <em>they<em> would enter her front door, forcing her into an evening that could either suffocate her with regret and horrid memories from the past or fill her with the joy and happiness of recounting long forgotten events.

Standing up straight, she walked upstairs towards her bedroom, coming to a halt in front of the crystalline surface of her mirror.

Faithfully, it reflected an image. The image of a young woman, strong and beautiful. An image of a total stranger to the foolish, reckless girl who once stood in its place. Her newly dyed deep brown hair hell to her wais, a thick, billowing curtain.

Her eyes framed with powdery, dark hues of black and midnight blue gazed haughtily back at her. Cold and haunted. Something was missing, something important, something that would cause her eyes to light up and come alive, shimmer with life and spirit.

Distantly, she vaguely recalled a time that felt so long ago, when she had in fact been alive and not weighed down by the chains of agonising memories. She wanted the return of that blissful innocence, naïve mindset where a midlife crisis would perhaps have involved some ridiculous scandal of inferiority, perhaps a break up between a minor crush, or having no suitable clothing to wear for a wild, physically detrimental party of alcohol and inhibiting substances.

She wanted the activity off school life, where all was fun and play.

The irritating music of insistent door rapping broke her out of her sentimental reverie. She took one glance at the mirror, fixing the design of midnight blue, elegantly draped over her curvaceous figure, entwined with eccentric patterns of sparkling silver, that accentuated the silvery powder that farmed her eyes as well as the stunning glittering clips holding her hair in place.

This statue of breath taking nature stood upon a pedestal of 5 inch silver heels, completing this intimidating, angelic masterpiece. She was gorgeous and she was very well aware of it, perhaps a little too well… She could not wait to cause some mouth dropping drama at the front door.

Descending the stairs, she took her glorious time in arriving at the door, eager to inflict frustration as her sadistic nature dictated. The furious banging and raised voices from the opposite side eventually satisfied her needs and she finally found the mercy to open the door. A smirk upon her glossed, pink lips, she stepped aside allowing entrance.

"About time…" Christian muttered.

"I'm sorry." she replied in her most innocent manner. "Would you perhaps like to stay outside for a longer period of time?" Her comment aroused a round of hearty chuckles, however they dissipated as an unexpected voice carried over from the doorway.

"Kiz, you haven't changed one bit I see." A mockingly disapproving tone laced through the comment.

"Obviously not." Someone seconded from beside the first speaker, equally disapproving.

"Janine. Old man." She replied curtly, despite the small smile creeping across her face.

"I hope you don't mind. Vasilisa gave a call and well… we needed to see you." Her mom's voice softening towards the end.

"Guardian Hathaway, it's Lissa."

"Yes, of course."

"We really missed you Kiz."

"I know. I'm sorry." She whispered, enveloping them in a hug.

Pulling back she addressed the group.

"Well, take a seat." She gestured towards the dining table as everyone filed in and took their spots. Everyone but one.

Suddenly, she found herself attempting to juggle a pile of paperwork with a large muscular chest in front of her.

"So I took the class as you so kindly asked me and gave them a… let's just say… challenging quiz on bodyguard theory. Thought I would leave the marking and paperwork to you, seeing as you are their rightful teacher." Smirking, he stalked off, but not before he got one last comment in.

"You look stunning by the way and just for your information, I'm not giving up."

Turning around, she set the pile of homework on the table.

"Oh, _this is on_." She muttered, on hand on her hip, the other on the table twisting her mouth into a decisive line of determination. She was going to make him pay and this was going to be a hell of a night.

"I'm sorry, what's _on_ Rose?" That accent laced voice floated tauntingly from across the room.

"Oh nothing, I just forgot to turn on the oven for our main course." She replied, attempting a nonchalant façade. It seemed convincing, if only there wasn't the infuriating factor of a certain smirk from a certain someone.

"Whoa, hold up. Since when, did the infamous Rose Hathaway actually _cook_?" Christian, of course.

"FYI fire crotch, there's a miraculous feature of the human brain and guess what? It's called learning." She lazily strolled up to him, whilst a chorus of laughs went up around the room.

"Maybe you would like to try it sometime." She said right into his ear.

With a small smile adorning her features, she walked into the kitchen to collect the food. As she busied herself with the meal her dhampir instincts registered a pair of footsteps behind her.

"Little Dhampir." Turning around, she was met by a pair of dazzling emerald green eyes.

"Adrian." She greeted him quietly. She wasn't sure how to act around him anymore, or how to act around anyone anymore. She had been gone three whole years, she didn't know what had changed or what hadn't, but what she did know was that she wanted more than anything to jump into Adrian's arms. She just didn't know how to anymore.

"Hey, come on now! Don't act like you don't know me anymore!" As if sensing her hesitation, or more likely reading it in her aura, he opened his arms in expectation.

She didn't need to be told twice, as she flew into his arms, welcoming her old friend back into her life.

"Rose, I have something I need to tell you." He finally said as he put her back down.

"Wait. Did the wonderful and amazing Adrian Ivashkov just call me by my first name? What happened to 'Little Dhampir'?" She quipped.

"Oh just shut up and listen." He said a smile on his face despite his comment.

"Ok, ok. Proceed." She replied with a slight giggle.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you…that…"

"Go on Adrian, whatever it is, I won't react too horribly. Emphasis on the 'too'." She added playfully.

"Viktoria and I are together." He said abruptly.

"I know Adrian. I saw you remember?"

"Yeah, as Marie." He said drily.

"She's the one. I'm sure of it. She's funny and smart as well as independent and can totally pack a punch. I just needed to make sure you were alright with it considering we still haven't exactly officially broken up yet."

"Well consider us over. Friends?"

"Friends." He agreed. Suddenly, she broke out into full fits of giggling.

"What's so funny?" Adrian asked uncertainly, whilst Rose bent over double, laughing hysterically. Eventually she calmed down and took deep breaths, trying not to burst out into fits of giggling once again.

"Good luck with Belikov."

She left the room, a dish in each hand and the ghost of smile on her face.

"What were you two laughing about?" Viktoria asked as they both walked back into the dining room, placing the dishes down upon the table.

"Nothing…" Rose replied sneakily, glancing between Adrian and Dimitri.

Adrian walked over to his seat beside Viktoria and placed a chaste kiss upon lips, as everyone's eyes widened in surprise. Well, all everyone except for Dimitri's which frankly did the opposite: narrow in distaste. As Adrian took his seat in between Viktoria and Rose, he shot a glance at the furious Russian and audibly gulped, accompanied by a slight paling of his complexion.

Eager to stir matters up a little, she gave a light laugh and addressed everyone present.

"Everyone, I'd like to thank you all for coming here tonight, even if some were unexpected. I'd especially like to make a toast to the new happy couple, Adrian and Viktoria. May they find happiness in each other and cherish their love forever." She said as she gave a slight wink to the couple beside her, whilst Dimitri's jaw tightened in an effort to control himself.

"What are you trying to do? Get me killed?" He leaned over and whispered whilst casting a nervous glance to the opposite side of the table.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She replied, faking innocence.

Dinner continued in a similar fashion and conversations of little importance were exchanged. Once the meal finished, they all moved into the sitting area. It was time for the real talking.

With everyone settled down in the sitting area, small talk was thrown aside and the heart of the night was revealed.

"So Rose, tell us how you set up this school. How did you manage it? I never would have thought you had enough patience to teach." Her mother prompted as everyone laughed at the statement, but she couldn't help notice a small flash of pride in her eyes.

"Yes little dhampir, enlighten us."

"Well, after I uh, left…" She mentally cringed whilst Dimitri flinched. "I went back to Russia and stayed a few months with the Belikov's. Whilst I was there, I met some friends who I went strigoi hunting with back on my first trip to Russia. They…asked me for favour. They wanted to become guardians and regretted the decision of not graduating. I was reluctant at first. I wasn't sure whether I wanted or had the skills to teach." She explained, casting a glance at her mother and thinking about her previous comment.

"Well obviously, you know what I decided. So I moved here to New York, changed my appearance as well as my name and began teaching the guys: Artur, Lev and Denis."

"How did you get them the tattoos and graduate?" Eddie spoke up for the first time during the meeting.

"I have connections…" she said slyly, to which Eddie merely rolled his eyes to.

"No, I pulled a few strings and managed to get them out of here. For a few months, I was just here alone, living and training in the day and strigoi hunting at night."

"Rose, you know that's extremely dangerous." Her mum scolded.

"Yeah, but I'm Rose Hathaway."

"Typical…" Christian muttered.

"Wait, so how did you find the money to buy this place, let alone set it all up?" It was Dimitri.

"The first time I came, Adrian lent me some money. Fortunately, I didn't use it all up and had a bit left over. I used that for all this. You know, it was merely a spacious house when I first got it. Anyway, back to the story. So for a while it was just me and this house, but it seemed I did a fairly good job of training those guys and they had quite the reputation as it turned out."

"I remember when they came to court. They _were_ quite badass." Eddie remarked.

"Thanks to my awesome tuition."

She was proud. Proud that she had been successful in producing such great guardians, who contributed to this ancient war between moroi and strigoi. Proud that she had achieved so much.

"Ok, let's get on with the story." Lissa said effectively throwing the room into silence.

"Eventually, word got around that there was this real badass teacher in New York and I began receiving calls and emails with parents asking for my help. And that's how the school started."

"Wow, I never thought you had it in you Rose." Adrian joked, to which everyone promptly ignored.

"Well, I'm very proud of you Rose. You've done an amazing job with this place." said Lissa.

"Thanks Liss, I only wish that all of you were here with me when I started it."

Regret washed through her, but it wasn't her fault. She needed to get away at the time, she was a heart broken, agonised woma barely out of school, torn to bloody shreds of sorrow and pain.

"And whose fault was that? You still haven't given us your explanation of why you left."

"Umm, about that…" She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her eyes met dark brown ones from across the room, full of unconditional love and endless regret. All she wanted to do right then was walk over and comfort him, tell him everything was alright that she forgave him and they could be together. But there was always something that held her back. Fear.

Fear for the unknown. Fear that perhaps he may break her heart again; shatter it into a billion pieces for the billionth time. She feared that feeling of pain, intentional or not, whether it was a strigoi that took him away or his own decisions, she most definitely did not want to experience that again.

"There were a couple of reasons for my disappearance." The room was silent, waiting on her next words. It was starting to bother her; she didn't know how to tell them about her uncertainty over Lissa and Dimitri's absence of love. Giving a nervous cough she continued.

"I left firstly, because well, Lissa, I wasn't sure where we stood anymore. I guess it may have been the darkness from the restoration or just everything going on at the time." She snuck a glance at Dimitri when she voiced the 'everything going' section. "You told me to leave and stop bothering Dimitri and…and I guess I just took it a bit too seriously. I'm sorry Liss, by the time I was able to calm down and really think, I was half way across the world, and my pride kept me from returning. I'm truly sorry, I hope in time you will forgive me." She looked down at her hands clenched tightly together, afraid to look up and into those dazzling jade eyes.

"Rose." Silence.

"Rose, look at me." She couldn't bear to do so, fearing what she may find. Footsteps were heard as Lissa crossed the room, towards her best friend.

"Rose, I'm not angry you ditched me. You have your reasons and I'm sure they're more than valid. In fact, I should be the one apologising. I'm sorry for pushing you away, sorry for what I said, for telling you to leave. I didn't mean it, honestly I didn't realise, I just—"

"Shhh…It's alright. I forgive you, I forgive you completely." Fat drops of moisture were welling up in her eyes, breaking the barrier and pouring from its native spring of salt water. Rose pulled her into a silent embrace of forgiveness, a gesture showing that everything was going to be alright.

"Ahem." Abe coughed. "Now that you both are done with your heart to heart, could you please tell us your other reason for leaving?"

"Oh right." They both pulled away and returned to their designated seats.

She really did not want to voice this one. Having it out in the open would only reopen wounds, but she owed everyone an explanation, she had given her word and she most definitely planned on carrying out her promise. She was not going to back out.

"My second reason was Dimitri." There, she finally said it.

She would be required to explain their history now, other than herself and Dimitri, only Lissa and Adrian knew the truth. To make matters worse, her parents were present as well. This was not going to be pleasant.

"Rose?"

"What? Oh yeah, sorry." She hadn't even realised she'd drifted off.

"What about Dimitri?" Her mum asked, voice firm.

"I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but to understand the situation I need to go back to the academy."

"You all know that back then, Dimitri was my mentor. I think that was where it all started." She was more talking to herself now, rather than the whole group.

"For the first month or so, everything was fine. I trained with Dimitri and got to all my classes, well as fine as you could be with rumours flying everywhere."

"Rose, I really am sorry for all that happened back then. I regret it so much now." Mia apologised, a look of utter guilt consumed her face, no longer doll like or childish but more of a strong and determined woman. She had transformed completely during her time away.

"Mia, you were forgiven a long time ago."

"So as I was saying, we continued training and all, I teased him a fair bit on his old country music and western novels as well express my opinions on Siberia…" This comment earned a chuckle from Dimitri whilst confused looks were passed around the rest of the room.

"She always thought Siberia was an arctic wasteland." Everyone laughed at the assumption.

"Well, I guess I was wrong." She said quietly. That was all it took for everyone to stop laughing and a look of utter pain dominated Dimitri's features.

"Anyway, everything went downhill on the night Lissa was captured by Victor Dashkov." Her voiced thickened and bubbled with venom, clearly expressing her thoughts on the man, whilst Lissa cringed at the vivid memories.

"That night, Victor needed to get rid of me in order to kidnap Lissa. So he put Dimitri and I under a lust charm, but don't worry, we didn't actually do it. Dimitri figured it out and threw it out the window before anything was done that we would both regret. You all know what happens next, but over the next few months neither of us could really forget that night. We tried to stay away and believe me, we really did, but in the end we just couldn't fight it."

"Was that why you acted so strangely when I told you about Lady Ozera's offer?"

Rose nodded silently and continued with the story.

"On the night of the strigoi attack on St. Vladimir's Dimitri and I were out in the cabin where we finally made love." If she was going to tell her story, she might as well tell the whole truth.

"What?" Janine screeched as she jumped up from the seat in fury. "YOU HAD SEX WITH MY UNDERAGE DAUGHTER?"

She dashed over and restrained her mother, she had been expecting this.

"YOU FILTHY, REVOLTING BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU?"

"Mum sto—"

"HAVE YOU NO SHAME, NO—"

"MUM!" she shouted and her accusations died.

"That is enough." She directed at her firmly, leaving no room for disobedience.

"Right." She paused, taking a deep, calming breath. "I'm sorry Rose." Finally calming down, sinking back into her seat.

"You all know what happened that night, many were slaughtered. So many deaths, but one that stood so vividly in my mind was Dimitri being turned. I took off soon after that, fled to Russia to track him down and fulfil our promise of freeing each other from that unnatural state."

"So that's what you were doing in Russia." Janine muttered.

"I eventually found him, only to get captured by him and held hostage. He did some horrible things to me whilst I was held hostage, but eventually I escaped and staked him. Or so I thought." She had tried to keep the details on what happened when she was captured as nondescript as possible, she knew it would cause Dimitri great pain to relive those events.

"When I arrived back at St. Vlad's, there was a package waiting for me with my stake in it. It seemed I didn't stake him properly."

"Smooth Rose, smooth." Christian commented, earning a death bringing glare which immediately silenced him.

"After graduation we all moved to court and I took off on a mission to restore Dimitri. I had heard from Mark and Oksana, another shadow-kissed couple, that it may be possible to do so. I didn't know what to believe then, but I knew I had to do whatever was in my power to save him, even if it meant breaking Victor out of Tarasov to get a hold of his half-brother Robert as he was the only person who knew the answers I was seeking."

"Wait. You were the one who broke Victor Dashkov out? Victor Dashkov as in your own enemy?"

"Yes."

"As it turned out, the method of restoration was a lot more difficult than we expected. It required a spirit wielding moroi with a spirit induced stake to stake the strigoi. I gave up after that. I couldn't allow Lissa, or any moroi for that fact to plunge into the dangerous grasp of a strigoi, but as it always was, odds were not in my favour. Lissa was then captured by Dimitri in an attempt to lure me out and Hans launched a rescue mission. By the end, we managed to kill a decent number of strigoi, rescue the remaining victims as well as restore Dimitri back to his dhampir state."

"I still don't understand how this caused you to run away." said Eddie.

"I'm getting to it."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Once he was back at court, no one trusted him, no believed he was a dhampir. So many experiments were done to test his dhampir state. He was always surrounded by a group of guardians. He caged himself in bars of guilt. Guilt over the lives he had taken away, what he had done to certain people and wouldn't allow anyone to help. Especially me." She turned towards the one and only man she would ever love.

"Dimitri. You have to, you _need_ to understand that what happened whilst you were strigoi was not your fault." He looked into her eyes, so much love, regret and sadness contained in those beautiful eyes.

"But what hurt me most, the sole reason I ran away, was what you said to me in that church. 'Love fades. Mine has.'" Silence rang throughout the space between them.

"Perhaps if I had given you more time and space, none of this would have happened." She heaved a great sigh. "But it's too late now."

"Rose, I'm so sorry for what I said, but I didn't mean any of it. Not one letter, not one word. I had no idea to what lengths you went to, to restore me. I did it to save you from me, at the time, I thought we should never have been together, you deserved so much better than me." Everyone was looking on as the scene unfolded before them. The two forbidden lovers.

"But I understand now, that saying all that I caused you more pain." The room was deadly silent.

"Only caused _us_ more pain."

"Rose, can you forgive me for what I have done?"

Her head spun. He was asking for forgiveness, something that she wasn't sure she could manage.

"I-I'm not sure I can Dimitri. How do I know you won't hurt me again?" she whispered.

A pained expression crossed his face.

"I'm sorry. I need some air." She rushed out without another word, out through the glass doors and onto her balcony.

The night air was cool and refreshing. The tears streaming down her cheeks stung her face slashing it into painful wounds, mimicking attacks on her tarnished heart. The moon shone from its position high up, overlooking the drama and activity below.

"You know, he really loves you."

She spun around to find the two figures of her parents standing at the doorway. Abe was the one who had spoken.

"I know. Don't get me wrong, I love him. I truly do, I wouldn't have done all those crazy things I did. I'm just so scared of being hurt again, I don't if I could go through that kind of emotional trauma a third time."

"Then you'll just have to trust him." _Trust._

"Maybe I have been a bit hard on him…" she said, her voice soft.

"Perhaps Rose, but whatever happens next, it's for you to decide. We just want to let you know that we support you, whatever your decision may be." Then her mother spoke up.

"I'm really sorry about my little outburst before, I've already apologised to Dimitri. He truly is a great guy, despite the fact he is 7 years your senior and committed a few inappropriate crimes."

They glanced at each other, mother and daughter, and for once in their complicated relationship there seemed to be hope. Hope for a brighter future, hope for leaving this mess behind and patching up every wound inflicted. For once there was hope for a true relationship between the two women.

"I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you Rose. Proud of what you have achieved, proud of this strong, independent woman you have become. And…"

"And…?" Rose prompted.

"And I love you. No matter my actions or words to you, I have always loved you, I just didn't know how to express it."

"I love you too mum." She said, giving her mother a big hug, whilst dragging Abe in along the way.

'Well kiz, we should be going now. It's quite late."

"Feel free to stay in one of the rooms in guest housing, I'll have Laura show you to your rooms."

"Thanks Rose."

The whole family walked back into the room, glad problems had been sorted out.

"Rose!" It was Lissa.

"Rose, we should all probably get going now, so see you tomorrow?"

"Yes Liss, I'll see you tomorrow." She reassured her.

"Don't disappear again little dhampir." Adrian warned.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

It suddenly dawned on her that there was one person missing from their entourage.

"Where's Dimitri?" she asked suddenly alarmed.

"He uh…left just a few moments ago. He was pretty upset."

"Ok you lot, get out. I need to go find him."

It was time to fix this mess.

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><p><strong>So next chapter should be the final showdown between our two lovers, unless I somehow manage find some other scene that is vital to this story, which I highly doubt there is. So…<strong>

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! xo**

**~Angeliqa**


	25. Eternally Loved

**So I know I told some of you I'd be updating yesterday and I'm really sorry about that, but better late than never right?**

**Anyway, I have also had people ask me about lemons. In regards to that, I have decided to include one in the next chapter and that will be written by dpower as I'm a little young for that stuff. Next time I update, I will be putting up two chapters, one a lemon for older audiences and the second for those who don't want to read that stuff so you all still have something to read! Yay!**

**Ok, hope you enjoy this chapter, the final confrontation! :D**

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><p><strong>~Angeliqa<strong>

DPOV

He stared at the retreating figure of the woman he so dearly loved. He watched her step back from him and run out those glass doors towards the cool night air, taking the most vital piece of his living being away with her.

His heart.

The moment he saw her from the shadows of those trees he knew there was something special about her, he never thought back then that Rose would make such a huge impact on his life. Slipping his head in his hands he reflected on all those moments they shared at the academy, their happy days. He mentally snorted; even their happy days were not so joyful after all. They were always hiding and sneaking about, never allowed the privilege of having an open relationship. But between all that, there was also the Victor, Spokane and Mason as well as the strigoi attack which finally brought it all down.

It seemed their lives would never be without drama.

With his eyes shut, pressed against the warm surface of his palms, he felt a hand rest itself against his shoulder.

"She'll come around Dimitri." Lissa said in her soothing voice. "Nothing can keep you two apart for long, not even her stubbornness. Give her time."

He couldn't stay in the room much longer; he needed to be out in the open air. Standing up, he gave a nod to everyone and cast a final glance at the dark figures looming beyond the glass doors.

"Please give Rose my gratitude for this splendid evening." He said, resorting to his guardian mask and polite, formal manner. It was what he knew, his old standby. _When all else fails, go with the stoic guardian façade._

As quickly as he could, his legs took him out of the room, leaving behind a room of concerned acquaintances and the love of his life. Wounding his way through corridors and rooms, he eventually found his way outside to the night's dark complexion, sprinkled with the dust of fairies that shimmered proudly. The ghostly eye of the moon drifted through its sea of midnight blue. How easy it would be to sit there at night, overlooking the beauty of the world, doing nothing at all. No drama, just peace.

He slowed to a comfortable jog, coming to a stop beside the gleaming surface of the pond, smooth and untouched. Behind him, stood the cabin, waiting, always waiting. A soft rustling was heard as he gazed out, beyond the pond and he turned around fast, and on alert, expecting the worst from the situation.

However, his body relaxed as his mind recognised the figure standing in front of him. It was none other the great Rose Hathaway.

"Rose, what are you doing here?"

"Well, as the host with a guest running off before the night has ended you can't help but be the slightest bit concerned, you know?" she replied, attempting to raise an eyebrow, however failing and resorting to a frown instead. He chuckled at her attempt at raising an eyebrow.

_Same old Rose._

It suddenly became very quiet between them. A silence of unsaid words, of thoughts and feelings that had been bottled up for so long, took over. He sensed her come a step closer and he tensed, wondering what she was going to do.

"Relax Comrade, I'm not going to do anything." Shock flittered across his expression as he registered the old nickname, despite the fact that didn't like it too much, he had truly missed it.

"So what are you _really _doing here Rose?" he could sense there was an ulterior motive for coming to find him, just like he could sense everything else. There was never a real need for words and such; they could read each other as clear as day. It had always been like that.

"I uh…wanted to come apologise." _An apology huh..?_

"I've realised that I have been a bit harsh on you lately…" she began.

"A bit?" I asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Ok, I have been _really_ harsh on you. Better?"

"Much." He replied, a small smile gracing his features.

"I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve any of it and—"

"Stop." He couldn't stand her apology any more. It wasn't true. He did deserve it, he deserved it all. Sure he had forgiven himself for the crimes he committed as a strigoi but that did not excuse what he said in his restored dhampir state. His words had pushed her away and although his actions had done what was intended which was to save the woman he loved from himself, they had not prevented the pain she had suffered, the pain she now continued to endure.

"I don't deserve an apology, I don't deserve anything from you or the world for that matter. I shouldn't be allowed the privilege of happiness, I shouldn't even be alive."

"Dimitri, don't talk like tha—"

"No, _you_ don't talk like that!" he snapped. "You have been nothing but generous and kind to me, going half way around the world to save my damn soul and what do you get in return?"

He rubbed his face and ran a hand through his brown hair, which he had left out for the dinner, framing his strong jaw line.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose it like that. I'm sorry I pushed you away, I'm sorry for everything!" he finally exclaimed. "I know I don't deserve you Rose, but I can't live without you. You are the sole reason I am standing here today, I have been searching and searching for you for the past three years, every day I live without you by my side is another long day of torturing agony. You have no idea what I've been feeling, Rose, I need you. Please take me back." By the end, his voice was only a mere whisper, another soft breeze joining the rest that had collected in the night air.

She had been stunned speechless. It seemed his words had dumped her on the shores of silence, however she soon recovered and opened those luscious lips to speak.

He braced himself for what was to come.

RPOV

It was one of those uniquely rare moments when Rose Hathaway was rendered speechless.

Her mind froze with the shock resulting from Dimitri's momentous speech. However, she quickly recovered and a sorrowful wave crashed into her, as she saw Dimitri brace himself for her next words. It seemed he was expecting the worst, with the amount of refusals she had handed out to him, like detention slips. Her mind overflowed with guilt at the mere observation.

"Dimitri." His body stiffened. "You have absolutely no clue how badly I want to jump into your arms, into you this very moment. That's all I've been wanting to do since the day you walked through those gates of my school. No, that's all I have been thinking about since that day I left court, even though you hurt me so much. But what holds me, what anchors me to the seabed here is these chains of fear. "she watched as his face filled with emotional pain, with his own internal agony.

"I felt as if my heart had been wrenched from its warm spot in my chest and grinded and crushed to a pulp, when you were turned, but then to have that pain amplified when you claimed you no longer loved me. Well, let's just say my heart has been broken twice, I honestly don't know if I can handle such affliction and torment a third time."

"Rose, I won't ever leave you again. Please understand that. Do yo not realise I can't function correctly without you? If you don't trust me now, maybe you will in time. All I need is one chance. One chance to prove myself, you don't need to accept tonight, we can start as acquaintances again, just let back in your life somehow."

"Don't you understand?" she yelled. "If I let you in, I won't have a choice but to trust you again, to love you like before, perhaps more infinitely so. The slightest touch would have me running back into your arms, that's how much of an effect you have on me, that's how much you control me." He stared at her lovingly in silence as the next words flowed mellifluously out of her mouth.

"_That's how much I love you." _

Faster than any strigoi could move, he was standing in front of her, smashing his lips upon hers with a fiery urgency full of passion and unconditional love. His strong arms wrapped around her thin waist, securing her to her rightful spot with him as her arms twirled through those beautiful brown locks. At long last, they broke apart, foreheads touching and gasping for air.

"I love you." She managed to say, once their breathing slowed to a comfortable state.

"As I love you, my Roza." And with another quick kiss that promised many more to come, he swept her up into his muscular arms and carried her back to her apartment , with an urgency like none other.

They had been apart for long enough, it was a miracle they could stand another second away from each other. It had been too long.

Far too long.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed that! There are probably only a couple of chapters left for this story. I'm not sure if I'll do or if you want a sequel for this, I'll see how many reviews or messages I get regarding that.<strong>

**Now, I'm hoping to get at least 250 reviews before the next chapter so about 15 reviews, that's not too much I hope so... REVIEW! Please... :3**

**~Angeliqa**


	26. Mission Accomplished

**Sorry it took so long to update! I just couldn't write when I sat down to do it and kept getting distracted, maybe it was the lack of motivation being the end and all or something else, but whatever it was, I have finally updated! This is a short chapter so enjoy! xo**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>Warmth.<p>

An all encompassing feeling of warmth surrounded her body as she sank further into that soft comfort, further and closer to the one man she had missed for so long. As if he could glimpse into the depths of her currently love-fogged mind, his arms tightened against the mesmerising figure that was now all his, his little trinket of beauty and joy to keep. He would never let go, never ever release her from his grasp, and never allow her to become susceptible to the cruel clutches of foreign concepts.

Their minds still clouded with fatigue, they lay between the sheets attempting to have a few more moments to themselves, as the shrill ringing of the alarm signalled the beginning of a new day.

Today everyone would be going back to Court.

It had been a full week since Dimitri and Rose had begun to patch matters back up, hoping to put their horrendous past behind them. They weren't precisely a couple yet, more 'friends with benefits'. For now at least…

Adrian and Dimitri had made the decision of staying at the school, both dedicated to staying close by their women. Despite the fact that Adrian was now facing the intimidating eye as well as great wrath of Dimitri Belikov, it seemed everything had quietened down and life resumed, healthier and happily. The rest would occasionally drop by for visits and long periods of stays as Lissa was always required back at Court.

Groaning, Rose turned her bleary eyes towards the infuriating machine, seizing its blinking lights and hurling it towards the wooden panels that served as walls for the cosy cabin, cursing and muttering at the immobile object as if it was a live thing. At last the room was plunged back into its ocean of silence and Rose returned to her position beside her lover's marvellous body, burying herself in the comforting warmth.

"You haven't changed one bit I see." He chuckled. "Always so impatient." She could hear the amusement as well as the smile in his voice, despite having her back turned away.

"Wrong. I haven't broken a single alarm clock in three years, nor have I lost my control." She admitted proudly.

"You just bring out the other side." She remarked.

"Oh, so this is my entire fault?" he asked. She craned her head around to see him raising an eyebrow. Internally, she growled in annoyance. _Why can't I still do that?_

"Yes, I believe it is." She replied leaning in to close the distance that remained between their lips.

Dimitri growled in mock anger swept her lips up in a frenzy of lips and love.

"Rose. We should stop, don't you want to say good bye to Lissa before she leaves?" he asked, a hint of teasing weaving through his words. He knew this would force her to get out of bed, as much as he would love stay there would be plenty more opportunities for cuddling up in the mornings.

With an irritated groan, she hauled herself out of the creases of the soft sheets. Dimitri mimicked her actions however with a little less reluctance as they chased each other into the bathroom, eventually emerging to don some clothes and set off towards the staff room for breakfast.

Due to their previous setbacks, it seemed they were the last of the group to arrive for breakfast. Eventually, they settled down after collecting their respective portions of food or in Rose's case, a mountain of assorted delicacies ranging from scrumptious, golden pancakes to mouth watering chocolate glazed donuts.

"I still don't understand how one person can eat so much!" Lissa exclaimed, whilst shaking her head at the sight before her.

As soon as her ass had made contact with the wooden bench beneath her, those plump lips had opened up, allowing the entrance of a large mouthful of maple syrup doused pancakes. She was at present, hungrily devouring as much of the food as she possibly could into her mouth with a pace most likely faster than a strigoi and therefore could not reply immediately. However, once her mouth was free of any edible form of obstruction, she wasted no time in coming up with a retort, set with a little seasoning of Rose Hathaway attitude.

"Hey, I need to keep my strength up. I'll have you know, being a badass requires lots of hard work and energy." A chorus of chuckles and giggles erupted and rang out from the table, grabbing the attention of nearby colleagues.

"You haven't changed one bit Little Dhampir."

"So are you all packed and ready?" Rose asked, ignoring Adrian's previous comment. This question brought down their mood as they all sobered up and faced reality. None of them were ready to part yet, particularly after they had all just been reunited. However, Lissa was urgently required at Court so their hopes of some more bonding time were fast washed away.

"Yes I guess so." Lissa sighed in reluctance and resignation. "You have to promise me that you all come visit us at Court though, please!" she begged.

Although Rose loathed the very idea of Court and all its backstabbing Royal snobs, moroi politics and most of all Queen Bitch, she could never really deny Lissa anything she wished for.

"Ok Liss, we will make sure to visit." She replied in defeat, much to Lissa's satisfaction. "But only for you." She added in a stern tone.

At last, their time of departure finally came, the wheels of their suitcases clashing with the gravel of the pathway beneath, spraying a trail of dirt and stone as they went. The sun had not made an appearance this morning, nor would it be doing so today as a fine mist of rain spread around the entourage, dampening Rose's deep brown tresses.

After all was stored in the compartments of the vehicles, bids of farewell and heartfelt actions were made, with Lissa opening the floodgates and everyone displaying an array of emotions.

As they all hopped in and cruised down the pathway towards the strong iron gates, a sense of calm and peace overtook their minds. Dimitri, ever the sweet gentleman, took his wonderful lover into his arms, placing a lingering kiss upon her forehead.

It was over now.

Rose had been found.

_The mission was accomplished._

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><p><strong>Don't worry. It's not the end yet! Thank 'dpower' who convinced me to do a three chapter epilogue, hopefully they will be longer. Thank you so much for sticking with me, I don't know whether I will be writing another story, but if you have any ideas please don't hesitate to inform me. I'd really appreciate it!<strong>

**Could we perhaps get 300 reviews for both chapters? I hope that's not too much to ask for. XD **

**~Angeliqa**


	27. Epilogue: Part One

**IF YOU LEFT A REVIEW FOR THE LAST CHAPTER, I SUGGEST YOU READ THIS, IT MAY CONCERN YOU :D and if you didn't, you may still want to read it as well**

**(Dimitrisgrl):** Honestly, I'm not a big fan of sequels. They drag out a perfect story and really just screws it up, which is why I have instead, opted for a longer epilogue. The idea of Rose getting pregnant and all is really overrated, so I guess you will have to keep up with me to find out if she does end up with children ;)

Sorry to disappoint if you were really looking forward to a sequel. Perhaps you could think of the epilogue as a three chapter sequel…? LOL

**( ):** Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the story. Forgive me, but you weren't very clear on what you needed suggestions for. I will be happy to help with anything you like, maybe restate what you were saying in another review or you can email me at angeliqa_

**So thanks to all who reviewed and for those who haven't, thanks for following this story. Now, time for part one of the epilogue! I may have made a few mistakes regarding geographical matters, sorry for that, but I don't live in America. Enjoy! xo**

**~Angeliqa**

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><p>Epilogue: Part 1<p>

It was that time of the year that everyone looks forward to.

The time where the glorious sun shone with strong unyielding rays, not withholding, allowing the world to glimpse its infinitely illustrious and radiant powers. It was a time of rest, relaxation and fun set aside for the beach and ice cream or a leisurely stroll. An atmosphere of warmth, of sultry heat. It was none other than summertime.

_Summer._

The simple word rang through Viktoria Belikov's mind, its significance intimidating yet reassuring. The hard work was done, it was time to play.

The year had finally concluded ending with the much deserved graduation ceremony of yet another elite batch of senior novices, no doubt to join the guardian ranks as some of the best. After all, what else would one expect of the great Rose Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov?

Viktoria had been an active participant in these recent celebrations, enjoying the freedom and the feeling of being released from the restrictions of school and childhood. She had to admire the effort contributed. It was a celebration like no other, elaborate yet fitting for a league of protectors and fighters.

_She sat on the cool surface of their assigned seats, glancing nervously at the crowd of family, friends and staff before her. It was finally time. This was her night, the night she finally graduated as a fully trained, ass-kicking guardian._

_Her wandering eyes, suddenly caught a pair of similar, brown ones, full of love and pride and her heart warmed with the knowledge that it was of her doing. Olena Belikov sat amidst the crowd of appreciative observers, heart overflowing with joy at the sight of her youngest and last child graduating from her beloved Roza's guardian school. She was so proud of what they had all been through, what they had all endured and this graduation ceremony truly marked the end of a painful chapter in all their lives, leaving an open door to a brighter future._

_One by one, students were called upon to receive their promise mark, engraved in ink upon their skin, entwined with their previous molnija imprints. As a student of The Guardian Institute, the majority of the student body already bore molnija marks, only achievable through the advanced tutoring provided as well as their own determination and dedication to their career._

_Viktoria felt the pressure of the needle digging into the back of her neck, forcing herself to slam on her guardian mask and not display the pain which soon followed. Before long, she was hopping off the stool in which she had walked up to, to receive her promise mark, and stepping down, turning towards her classmates._

_She was finally a guardian._

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><p>Being the daughter of a powerful, intimidating, mobster-like moroi came with many benefits. One of them being private jets. Rose Hathaway sat back in the plush leather seats of the vehicle, a shimmering glass of golden champagne sat between the lengths of her long, slim fingers.<p>

A year had passed. A year of drama and chaos, forgiveness and reconnection. For the time in four years, she had finally allowed herself a break, a real holiday, a real vacation and there was nothing anyone or anything could do to bring her spirits down. At last, events in her life had been running smoothly, like a entrancing dream where everything was perfect, or perhaps a romantic fairytale with the most glorious of happy endings.

It seemed finally, Rose was to receive her happily ever after.

It had been a marvellous idea plucked from the very mind of Ibrahim Mazur himself, that they were all to enjoy three quiet and relaxing weeks on a private island off the coast of sunny Orlando, Florida owned by none other than shady man himself. Rose peered out the window, her breath caught at the sight of the shores and white sand below her. The plane had not even landed and she was excited beyond belief, and she was not the only one.

Across from her, sat a very bubbly and enthusiastic Lissa. Having seen Rose take a glimpse out the window, she herself had been intrigued and had joined Rose in her observations. As soon as the jade green eyes landed on the golden plains of the coastline, she squealed obnoxiously in joy and excitement, effectively arousing her husband, his ear not a hand span away from the source of sound.

Groaning in irritation he sat up straighter glancing at the stimulant of his wife's excitement and chuckling at the child of a woman bouncing beside him.

"Liss, stop. The baby."

Those four words were all it took for her face to constrict with mortification and for a string of apologies to come tumbling from her mouth. Apologies directed at a small bump protruding from her middle.

The happy couple had found they were to be expecting a few months ago and the princess was now 5 months or so along. It was a delightful circumstance, however the two dhampirs sitting opposite them could not help but feel even a hint of sadness at the simple concept of reproduction. For them, it was not to be.

Feeling more than seeing the sorrow in each other, they lent over the arms rests that separated the two seats and shared a brief however meaningful kiss, reassuring each other that they were all that was needed for unimaginable happiness; a child was merely a bonus.

Rose had been shocked to say the least, when she had come across the information that Dimitri had not been to see his family since his miracle restoration.

_A tub of ice-cream clutched in her hands, she made her way over to the black leather couches, feeling the furniture sink as she bestowed upon it her weight, snuggling up to her handsome Russian boyfriend. She took an enormous scoop of the colourful, cold treat as Dimitri watched her, shaking his head._

"_So, how has Olena and your family been? I haven't seen them in ages!" she exclaimed between mouthfuls of melting chocolate ice-cream._

"_Uh…" He shifted uncomfortably in his casual position, no longer relaxed but tense and awkward._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Well…it's just, uh, I haven't actually been to see them since...since I was restored." He finally managed to get out._

_At his admission, Rose began a fit of spluttering and choking before she recovered and turned to face Dimitri, an expression of incredulity evident in her features._

"_You what?" she screeched. "Why?" she continued in a softer but no less outraged tone._

"_I-I guess I've just never worked up the courage to face them after…after what I did to you. Especially when you were missing." he admitted, sending Rose off a cliff of stunned silence._

"_I devoted every waking second to seeking you, to finding you to apologise for what I said. I was—I am ashamed of my actions. My mother taught me better than that." His eyes were on the polished wood of the floor, afraid to lift his eyes and see what he expected to be disapproving expression on his lover's face._

_However, there was no such expression adorning Rose's features, but instead a solemn and determined mask as she set down her tub of ice-cream and reached over the armrest of the couch, towards a small piece of technology otherwise known as a telephone. _

_Dimitri glanced up in confusion as he heard the soft _beep_ of the number pad as Rose punched in some numbers and let it ring. _

"привет, вы назвали Беликов жительства, это Елена говоря" (Hello, you have called the Belikov residence, this is Olena speaking.)

_Between her time in Russia, as well as all her patrolling during the Russian classes at the school, Rose had managed to get a fairly good grasp on the language; there were only occasional words or phrases where she needed some assistance._

"_Hey Olena." She greeted, as Dimitri's eyes widened in horror and shock. He leapt off his chair attempting to get away, however Rose, fast as a strigoi jumped up and pinned him back down, straddling him on the couch. Olena, ever attentive and observant, even through the phone picked up on the silent struggle, her mind immediately consumed with concern for the young woman so much a part of her family as her own flesh and blood daughters._

"_Is everything all right over there?" Her worried voice drifted from the receiver as Rose grunted at the effort of pushing Dimitri back down._

"_Everything's fine, perfect actually." She replied in a cheery voice, a great contrast to the frosty glare being sent a certain someone's way._

"_Then what's all that…grunting?"_

"_Nothing, nothing. Just that I suggest you better get packing; I will be booking tickets for a flight to New York for your whole family."_

"_What?" Olena asked in disbelief._

"_Come on now Olena, your flight leaves in about… oh, 2 hours… " _

"_Bu—"_

"_I have a surprise for you when you get here." Rose sang. "And you do want to see your children don't you?" she asked, a hint of cheekiness creeping into her voice. She glanced over at Dimitri when she hit the word 'children'. Olena sighed in defeat._

"_Alright, Rose. We'll be on that plane soon."_

"_Fantastic." Rose exclaimed quite smugly."We'll meet you at the airport, goodbye. I love you." She said, hanging the phone up and leaving behind a very, very confused Olena Belikov._

* * *

><p><em>A sleek black vehicle pulled into the parking lot.<em>

_The rumble of landing planes shook through the open air as the car rolled to a standstill. The dark doors swung outwards as Rose, Dimitri, Viktoria and Paul stepped out from the car and in towards the arrivals gate. _

_Dimitri stood, tense with nervous anticipation as his family came closer and closer to their position beside the windows. Rose, always observant and in sync with him, reached over and grabbed is hand tightly, reaching up to give him an encouraging peck on the cheek._

"_Remember, I have forgiven you so there should be no reason why your family should be upset, ok?" she said softly. The only sign he registered her words was a terse nod so slight, it was almost imperceptible._

_It was as if a switch had been flipped off. Their movement halted as the group came to a sudden stop of shock. Dimitri flinched at this simple action, afraid of what was to come. Would they be overjoyed to see him? Or would they be angry at him for having kept away for so long? He was interrupted from his internal musings when he felt the full force of a body slam into him as he staggered backwards in surprise._

"_Mama?" he asked uncertainly._

"_Dimka!" Olena exclaimed as she lunged forward to hug her only son a few more times, she couldn't believe he was truly there in front of her. Sure, she had heard of the miracle restoration of a dhampir, Rose had vaguely recalled something of the matter, somewhat half-heartedly, she had been awfully down and depressed at the time. It was when she came back to Russia a few months after her abrupt leave._

_However, she had never believed those rumours, everyone had told her that her son was back, Dimitri had been restored, but how could she believe such absurd claims when he hadn't called or attempted to contact his own family? No, she had well and truly believed he was still out in the world roaming in the form of a strigoi, no longer her beautiful baby boy but a monster of diabolic nature._

_Now that the initial shock of the circumstance was over, Olena found herself bubbling with pent up anger and fury. Fury originating from an ocean of sorrow and worry. Soon enough, she watched as her own hand flew out and slapped the strong jaw line of Dimitri. She may have been a slight bit out of practice, but when Olena Belikov put her mind to it, she could really pack a punch. After all, where would Dimitri have gotten his badass guardian skills from? His moroi father?_

"_How could you Dimka?" Dimitri recoiled at the angry screech of his mother, rubbing his cheek as a fierce red mark appeared on the contours of his face._

"_How could you do this to me? To us? Why didn't you call, or write? Do have any idea what it's like to have the strangest of people come up to you and tell you that your son is alive, especially after his own lover came and broke the news to us all!" Seething with anger, she felt the need to unleash a whole string of verbal attacks, however was stopped by the bony hand of her mother. She turned around to Yeva's knowing and mysterious eyes, telling her to calm down. She closed her eyes as she felt her pulse returning to normal and the heat leave her flushed face._

"_I was so worried Dimka. Don't ever do that again." She whispered._

"_I won't mama. Never again." He replied._

The Belikov family had come back for Vika's graduation and after long arguments, they had been convinced to tag along on their vacation to Florida. Soon enough, the pilot was announcing their arrival and they stepped off on the private island of Ibrahim Mazur. There were servants and such awaiting them, ready to bear to brunt of their heavy luggage.

"Right this way ladies and gentleman." The clear voice of a servant drifted over the raucous slapping of the waves. The gang followed with Rose and Dimitri in the lead whilst everyone else was sandwiched in between, Mia and Eddie taking their sweet time, lost in a world of dizzying love and adoration. They had hooked up not long after Rose and Dimitri reunited, having given in to their ever present feelings and hadn't been separated since.

The sea and sky joined together at the horizon, a large expanse of the clearest of blue hues. Long strokes of bright white slashed through the heavens, a portrait of calm and peace. A soft sigh escaped Rose's lips, she was finally free to relax and do whatever she pleased to her heart's content.

"Come on, let's go unpack and settle down, then if the others would like, we can all go for a nice swim." Dimitri's voice flowed softly from beside her.

"I wouldn't mind if it was just us alone either." She giggled.

"Ugh. You two, break it up!" screamed Lissa from inside the mansion-like residence.

Towering above them all was a full three storey's of spacious area and outrageously extravagant luxury. As Rose and Dimitri stepped cautiously within its intimidating confines, the walls seemed to reverberate with the glamorous signature style of Abe Mazur, screaming and screeching from every available surface.

Nothing was to be overlooked. No smooth surface, sharp edge or nook and cranny, everything was designed to be seen, to capture the eye and rein in attention.

Dimitri effortlessly carried both their luggage and led the way towards the bedroom they would be sharing during their stay. They came to a stop in front of a heavy, oak door intricately carved with extravagant floral designs, entwined with a shimmering hue, that Rose deduced as real gold, and crenulated at the borders. Shaking her head as her old man's habits she turned the glimmering brass knob allowing their entry to the space beyond.

What lay beyond was entirely unprecedented, subsequently leaving Rose and Dimitri gasping for breath and frozen still like no strigoi ever could. The door in which they had entered veered closer to the left side of the wall in which their backs now faced, adjacent to the crystalline windows which made up the right wall, ceiling to floor.

Splashed with warming cream hues, the room gave off a comforting air, perfect for relaxation. Occasionally, a spike of chocolate brown would interrupt the expanse of creams and mellow whites. A large television lay against the wall opposite them and the bed, which was situated to their immediate right, draped in fabrics of dark brown, coffee tinted pillows and such.

"Do want to go take a peek at the bathroom?" Rose squeaked, well aware that she was only just gaining her voice back. Dimitri merely gave a slight nod of in silent response.

The entrance to the bathroom was blocked by a sliding door. Slowly slipping it across, their enclosed feet met the cool white tiles of the bathroom floor. If anything, the sight proceeded to stun them into a heavier silence. A strip of various shades of red tiles tessellated around the centre of the walls, framing the light pink coolness of the tub and spa. A shower stood in the corner, completing the image of love and romance.

The shrill ringing of a phone pierced the air, rousing the couple from their state of shock. Rose finally having realised the sound was coming from her own phone quickly fumbled with the mall device, bringing it to her ear.

"Hathaway." She answered firmly.

"Kiz!" Abe bellowed from the other end.

"Old man." She greeted slyly, a small smile sat upon her lips.

"So how do you like the old mansion?"

"Its… wow… it's a lot more than what we were expecting."

"That's great, I'm glad to hear. Just calling to check how you and your friends were doing."

"We're great dad. Really."

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed, before switching to a more serious tone.

"Listen. Your mother and I will be coming down in the middle of the second week." He said.

"Wait. You got mum? As in the cold and tough Janine Hathaway to take a break from being a guardian?" she cried in disbelief.

"Yes Rose, I did." He answered in triumphant delight.

"B – but… how?" she spluttered.

"Easy. I'm Abe Mazur." He replied, a smirk discernable in his voice.

"Ugh. Dad!"

"Ok, ok. I used some of my… tricks…"

"Ewwww! Lalalala…" Rose squealed, holding the phone out at arm's length. It seemed the rediscovery of Rose had reignited some spark of love between the two parents, which had somewhat grew as the months flew by.

"I did _not_ need to know that!" she shouted.

"Hey, don't blame me! You were the one who asked." Abe's voice came crackling through the receiver.

"Sorry Rose, but I need to be off now. Have fun and be safe, I'll see you next week."

"Alright dad, bye."

"Bye kiz, I love you."

"I love you too." She replied before they hung up.

"Looks like we better enjoy this week before the parents arrive."

* * *

><p>The next week flew by in blurs of high emotions, bright colours, tanning, jet skiing and surfing. Rose took pleasure in surpassing the male half of their entourage in all sorts of activities ranging from beach volleyball to jet skiing and surfing whilst the moroi girls lay beneath large beach umbrellas, careful not to expose themselves to too much sunlight.<p>

Today was to be a day where each individual would enjoy some quality time with their respective gender.

Dimitri rose from his position beside Rose's calm, unconscious form, throwing on some athletic shorts, he headed outside to the pleasurable scenery of the beach.

His bare feet hit the soft grains of pristine white that made up the shores, sinking beneath its silken embrace. The early morning sun rose from its watery bed, brushing warmth over his bare chest like strokes of warm yellow upon a blank canvas. Today Abe and Janine would be arriving.

Today he would ask for their permission to marry the love of his life.

His legs picked up the pace, his mind trying to shake off the stranger of nervousness creeping up behind him as he focused on the steady rhythm of his feet.

_Thump, thump, thump._

Birds glided overhead, swooping and soaring, their feathers as white as the sand grains which now stuck to the soles of his feet. Squawks of freedom and delight pierced the cool morning air, the crash of clear waves resonant in the otherwise quiet area. His chest rose and fell in a rough manner, a sheen of sweat wrapped his bare skin, clinging to every possible surface. Slowly jogging towards the jagged rock surface that began an ascent to the cliff face towering above him, he tucked the loose strands of soft, brown hair that fell across his flushed face. Taking a brief break, his hands found their own way to the depths of his pockets, pulling from them a small, black velvet box.

His lungs drew in a deep breath before he managed to flip the lid back, revealing an ancient ring of sparkling silver, embellished with a large diamond set in a ring of platinum, woven through with the delicate forms of rubies. It was perfect for his Roza, all he needed now were blessings from her frightening parents and an agreement from the love of his life herself.

In the distance, a roaring was heard, slicing through the sound crashing waves and screeching gulls gradually building until the ferocious sound was deafening beyond belief. Dimitri could only imagine how the moroi would feel with their sensitive hearing. Squinting against the blinding light emanating from the morning sun, he could make out the shape of a helicopter.

_Rose's parents were here._

That fact sent a circus of somersaults and tumbles rippling through his stomach as he jumped up from his position by the rocks and started a slow jog back towards the mansion. He could do this, no big deal, it was only Rose's parents… _only_? He shook himself out of his internal ramble, what was he talking about? _Only?_ Pfft. _Only _the shadiest, most dangerous moroi ever known in this day and age, _only_ one of the most lethal guardians out in the world.

He let out a frustrated gust of breath. He was almost at the mansion now. It didn't matter that both Rose's parents were capable of slashing his throat in a variety of ways in matter of seconds, it didn't matter that one of them looked like a mobster, or the other so cold and lethal. What mattered was that he loved their daughter. Yes, he loved Rose and that was all he cared about.

Pulling an agitated hand through his tumble of brown locks, he pulled himself together, the guardian mask once again upon his face, preparing himself for the inevitable confrontation.

"Excuse me Mr Mazur, Guardian Hathaway. May I please have a word with you both?" he asked in the politest manner he could muster up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rose with a concerned expression across her features. There was absolutely no doubt whatsoever that she knew something was up, there would be plenty of questioning later on.

"Alright Belikov."

Together, the three of them walked outside towards the garden. Dimitri led them a few extra steps in so as to be sure that no one would overhear their conversation. Turning around to face them, he found his voice had suddenly left him, his previously agitated body now froze in the face of the task that lay before him.

"We haven't got all day Belikov. Spit it out."

_Rose is all that matters. _

"Uh, Mr Mazur, Guardian Hatha–"

"Please Dimitri, no need for formal titles." Surprisingly, the comment came from Rose's mother.

"Ok then. I – I've loved Rose from the very moment I saw her through that window in Portland feeding Lissa. She was so determined and brave, the way she defended her even though she was clearly so weak from the blood loss and immediately earned my respect. I could see she was reckless and undisciplined, but there was so much potential and I suppose that was the spark to the fire that slowly built into this unconditional love I have for her now. I stand by everything that was done, I won't take back what I did at the academy for anything. You must understand I did try my very best to stay away from her, away from that raw beauty, that charismatic charm." He was more or less talking to himself now, his wistful voice distant as he floated in the memories of that blissful night before he was turned.

"But her struggling battle with spirits darkness finally got to her one night. In all honesty, she was a total mess. I couldn't stand to see her so broken; so weak." He paused. "I suppose you can imagine what happened next." He murmured as the expressions of Rose's parents hardened.

"I owe her my soul, my life, my sanity for saving me. No, I owe her much more than that, she deserves the world as well as whatever beauties lie beyond. I regret pushing her away, please understand that my remorse is too strong to word, however I have found her now and I intend to keep her, bind her to my side forever and love her always." He took a deep breath, praying to whatever God there was that He would grant him the good fortune of an acceptance and drew out the ring from his pocket.

"I would like your permission to marry your daughter."

Silence. He wasn't scared, he _wouldn't_ be scared. He would be a man worthy of their daughter, a man who would give everything dear to him to make their daughter happy, to love her and cherish her. He looked both parents in the eye, using that silent communication to send them his plead. His plead to marry Rose.

It was Abe who responded first. Stepping forward he clapped his hand to Dimitri's back, pulling him in for a manly embrace.

"Congratulations Belikov. If anything, I am glad you were the one. You have my permission." Dimitri breathed a mental sigh of relief. _One down._

"But if anything happens to her, if you hurt in any way _ever_, I will personally make sure your life will become a rotten, living hell." He nodded nervously, even the most simple minded of people would know to never ever take that comment in any other way than seriously.

"Thank you Abe." A sniffle was suddenly heard from behind Rose's father. Janine had not said a single word since his rambling long speech had ended.

"My little Rosie has grown up." She stuttered between sobs she was trying to keep in, however the emotions were just too strong.

"I'm so glad she has found someone like you. When she was born, I had half a mind to take her away and raise her out in the human world where she would be privy to freedom and all sorts of concepts this life could not give; one of them being _true _love. But duty called and I finally made the decision to remain here, sending my beautiful daughter to St Vladimir's, I knew she would be safe there. Thank you for everything, for finding her and Vasilisa, and bringing them back, for training her and turning her into the strong guardian she is today, for being there when her parents could not, for not giving up when she went missing. But most of all, thank you for letting her know what it's like to truly be loved. Yes, you have my permission Guardian Belikov." She came over and gave him a hug, perhaps inserting a bit more power than she needed. He took it as her own subtle reminder to him that things would not be good if he should decide to do anything to her daughter.

Under different circumstances he probably would have found the current situation quite humorous, however the matter at hand was one of extreme importance and he found that he was to shocked to find the height difference amusing.

He was stunned, well and truly stunned.

"I – Thank you, and please, it's Dimitri." He managed to utter after pulling back.

"_Well, Dimitri. Welcome to the family."_

* * *

><p>She was worried.<p>

Her parents had arrived a few days ago, and Dimitri had been acting awfully strangely. They had all sat down to have some catch up time, however Dimitri had been quite restless.

It almost was as if he was… nervous.

Her concern was only intensified when Dimitri jumped off the couch and asked for a word with her parents. After witnessing that, one could only imagine Rose's feelings when Dimitri came back with a shit eating grin plastered upon his face and a extra bounce in his step, almost as if he just walked right out of a musical where his character had just won the heart of the love of his life. Oh, if only she knew how close to the truth that thought was. In fact, Rose half expected him to be leaping around with an umbrella in hand singing and dancing around the room, and mind you, the thought of a 6 foot 7 giant Russian singing and bounding around the room was in Rose's mind quite humorous, and not to mention; sexy.

However, what really sent her mind reeling over the edge with shock was the state of her mother. Janine had walked back through the door with eyes resembling red tinted popcorn; puffy and red. Overall, it was quite safe to say that Rose was fairly confused for the remainder of the day. Confused being an understatement.

Rose chugged down the contents of her drink bottle and walked out of the gym towards her and Dimitri's room having been done with her training for the day. The afternoon light was gradually fading, it's yellow and orange colour tinting every surface it could grasp. She was starving and decided to take a shower and change before heading down to the kitchen to see what she could scavenge for dinner.

Shoving open the door, she hurriedly grabbed some clothes and a towel and headed for the bathroom, eager to get to some food. Turning on the shower, she relaxed as warm water washed away the sweat from her workout and relaxed her muscles. As she was hopping out of the shower she heard the door open and close and assumed it was Dimitri.

"Comrade, is that you?" she called.

No reply.

Curious, she quickly wrapped the towel around her body and stepped back out into the bedroom. There, lying at the foot of the bed was a neatly wrapped parcel and as she drew closer she saw that the parcel was addressed to her in neat, stylish writing. She tore of the brown paper wrapping and took off the lid of the black box that lay within.

Rose gasped at the beautiful red material that sat in the box and became intrigued when her eyes landed on the card that lay on top.

_To my lovely Roza,_

_Please put on this dress and follow the trail of roses to where I will be waiting_

_Lissa will help you prepare. _

_I love you._

Although there was no name at the end of the message there was absolutely no doubt in her mind who the secret sender was. Only one person called her Roza.

True to the message, Lissa swept in only second later, her arms spilling with cosmetic equipment of all sorts. Dumping them upon the dresser, she ordered Rose to sit down as she began to work on her hair and makeup, curling and twisting her brown tresses until the length cascaded down her back in twirling ringlets. Soon enough Rose was quite ready to put on the dress. Slowly unfolding the silky material, Lissa helped her slip the dress on and finally leading her towards the full length mirror that hung against the far wall.

A barely audible gasp escaped the plump lips embellished with a glimmering bright red shade, her eyes rimmed in golden eye shadow as well as eyeliner and bold mascara sparkled with the excitement and nervousness that coursed through her body. Her eyes trailed from her curling brown locks down to the blood red silk of her dress. Patterned with black lace designs of roses, the one shoulder dress fell to the middle of her thigh, flaring out when she walked and accentuating her curves and toned legs which seemed to go on forever in the simple black pumps, intricately decorated with glittering silver rhinestones Lissa had picked out for her.

Overall, she was the picture of perfect.

"You look stunning Rose. Now go chase that man of yours." She exclaimed, shoving her out the door with a knowing wink.

In a show of horrid guardian skills she stumbled her way out the door before righting herself and following the path of various coloured roses that paved the way to where she was sure Dimitri would be waiting. As she reached the edge where the wooden path met the sand, she took off her heels and hooked them around her fingers and continued walking, her feet sinking in the fine, silky grains of sand. A cool breeze blew from the sea and she found herself relaxing and really enjoying herself, the only thing missing was a certain Russian…

Scattered along the beach she could see the cream and red coloured Rose's which Dimitri had laid out for her, however the next rose caught her eye. Or perhaps she should say 'roses'. Carefully and meticulously, the flowers of red and white had been arranged in a rectangular shape, a border for the letter that lay within.

It was only a simple _'I' _was etched in the sand_._

Curiosity and confusion bubbled in her mind. Rose decided it would be best to keep moving, she didn't want to keep Dimitri waiting. However it wasn't long before she came across another of these strange clues. This time in the form of a heart.

_I… heart…_

No, none of it made any sense. Rose could do nothing but continue walking, maybe there were more clues. Sure enough as she neared a turn on the beach, she found a design much like the first only this time the word _'you'_ was the centrepiece of the display.

_I Love You. _

_How romantic…_ Rose thought as an overwhelming feeling of love and happiness swept through her. As she rounded the bend she expected Dimitri to be standing there waiting for her, but there was only golden plain of the beach shore and another clue:

_Will_

Will? There was no mistaking her confusion now as her face scrunched up into a thoughtful expression. A few more paces and she was stopped by another _'you'_.

_Will you…_

It was a question.

By now, the afternoon light was fast fading. The shadows stretched, long and elongated, wavering in final moments of daylight. She had reached another bend as the rough cliff face met her once more, pushing her closer towards the cool, lapping water of the sea. She sure hoped this little game Dimitri was playing with her would end soon, she was still starving from earlier and all she wanted to do was curl up in her Russian God's arms and pig out until her hunger was well and truly satisfied.

As the next section of the beach came into sight, there was nothing else she could do but gasp in surprise. There were two words lying engraved in the sand at her feet, surrounded in the same cream and red roses.

_Marry me?_

Tears began building in her eyes as her mind pieced together the whole message.

_I love you. Will you marry me?_

_Will you marry me?_ The question spun around in her head, which was at this very moment a light fluffy mess of all sorts of emotions which were only further heightened at the sight of Dimitri bent down on one knee at the end of the beach.

There he knelt, her perfect Russian God; the picture of perfection. If only she had a camera, if only she had some mental tool in which she could capture this moment forever to keep and replay over and over. Something that would not only capture the physical image of her, tears brimming over the edge of her eyes, shocked to the point of speechlessness, but could capture those emotions of overwhelming ecstasy, that euphoric and filling feeling of love for this one man.

"So, Roza. Will you? Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked softly, from his position on one knee. She was stunned into silence. She knew she should perhaps answer his question, God knows how badly she wished to scream at the top of her lungs 'yes!' but for the strangest of reasons, He had granted her the gift of silence in that very moment.

"Roza?" Dimitri asked, worry and concern lining his features as he observed her silence. It was only then that she found her voice.

"да" she whispered. "I would love to become your wife."

Nothing else in the world could come close to the beauty displayed then, as Dimitri's nervous face exploded into one of those rare full smiles she had tried so hard to earn back at the academy, though this time, a thousand times more radiant as he slipped the sparkling ring onto her finger.

It was perfect.

Suddenly, she screamed as he hoisted her up into the air and spun her around in pure joy, their laughs sounding in harmony, bouncing off the cliff faces and out into the sea where the orange light of the sunset illuminated certain areas of their faces and casting shadows across the plains of others. It was more than a fairytale, more than a happy ending, more than perfection could ever be. No word, no action, no description could satisfy the utter joy and exuberance of that moment, the current of love and faith that bound those two souls to each other.

Settling down, Rose and Dimitri filled the night with their delighted feasting and finally lay down on the rug set on the sand to enjoy their first night together under the stars, as each other's fiancés.

All the while unaware of the camera lenses, which had filmed the whole proposal as well as a smiling Viktoria as she switched the device off and headed back towards the mansion.

* * *

><p><strong>Likeys? ;) I'm awfully sorry for not updating in what..? 4 months or something? I've been trying to settle in at a new school and it doesn't help when everyone is a complete nerd! It's a select entry school, so everyone's smart and it's heaps competitive and all. Oh the joy…<strong>

**So I hope you all liked that, over 6,000 words! BE PROUD OF ME :D**

**AND. HAVE YOU ALL SEEN THE HUNGER GAMES? OMFG SFHVASKBSABACJA! NO WORDS, SIMPLY NO WORDS! BEST MOVIE ADAPTATION YOU WILL EVER COME ACROSS. **

**Share your thoughts on this chapter and the Hunger Games movie with me, I'd love to discuss it with you 3 **

**So until next time and Happy Easter as well! xoxo**

**~Angeliqa**


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